¹⁶⁵Er: A new candidate for Auger electron therapy and its possible cyclotron production from natural holmium targets

¹⁶⁵Er, a pure Auger-electron emitter, could be an attractive candidate for targeted radionuclide therapy. Auger electrons possess short penetration paths with high linear energy transfer. In this study, experimental cross-sections of the ¹⁶⁵Ho(p, n)¹⁶⁵Er nuclear reaction were measured and targets irradiated with protons using Injector II cyclotron at Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland) and the 18 MeV medical cyclotron laboratory at the University Hospital in Bern. A purification method was developed in order to obtain ¹⁶⁵Er suitable for in vivo applications.