Production of therapeutic quantities of (64)Cu using a 12 MeV cyclotron

(64)Cu is a useful radiotracer for positron emission tomography (PET) and a promising radiotherapy agent for the treatment of cancer. Recently, (64)Cu-labeled radiopharmaceuticals were reported to be useful for internal radiation therapy as well as PET monitoring of tumors.(64)Cu was produced at the Fukui Medical University's cyclotron using twelve MeV proton irradiation and the (64)Ni(p,n) (64)Cu nuclear reaction. A (64)Ni target was electroplated on a gold disk at a thickness of 50 to > 100 microm. Electroplating was performed at 2.5 V, at currents between 5-15 mA, and was completed in 12-24 hr. The (64)Ni target was bombarded with a 50 +/- 3 microA proton current. After bombardment, (64)Cu was separated from the (64)Ni target and other contaminants using an anion exchange column. Target (64)Ni was recovered and re-used. The yield of (64)Cu was 0.6 to > 3.0 mCi/microA*h, and averaged 1.983 mCi/microA*h. The radionuclidic purity of (64)Cu was over 99%. In this study, we obtained sufficient qualities and quantities of (64)Cu for therapeutic application and dose monitoring using PET using an ultra-small cyclotron.