Radiocopper in Radiopharmacy and Medical Use: Current Status and Perspective

Of the 32 known copper isotopes, some have interesting properties for nuclear medicine, for example the short-lived ⁶⁰Cu, ⁶¹Cu, ⁶²Cu, the moderate long-lived ⁶⁴Cu and the long-lived ⁶⁷Cu. Due to their emission properties, copper isotopes are suitable for both imaging diagnostics (⁶⁰Cu, ⁶¹Cu, ⁶²Cu, ⁶⁴Cu) and targeted radiotherapy (⁶⁴Cu and ⁶⁷Cu). As their chemical properties are virtually identical, a single radiopharmaceutical structure can be labeled with different isotopes, depending on the clinical application. This, combined with the ability to combine radioisotopes with different nuclear properties with the same ligand, makes them extremely versatile. The purpose of this review is to introduce the world of copper radiopharmaceuticals and to summarize recent advances in methods for producing copper radioisotopes and the preclinical research of radiopharmaceuticals labeled with copper radioisotopes.