2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Novel production of Cu-67 for cancer therapy using fast neutrons generated by the irradiation of deuterons

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	16K10374
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Radiation science
Research Institution	National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology
Principal Investigator	HASHIMOTO Kazuyuki 国立研究開発法人量子科学技術研究開発機構, 高崎量子応用研究所東海量子ビーム応用研究センター, 上席研究員(定常) (80414530)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	飯田靖彦鈴鹿医療科学大学, 薬学部, 教授 (60252425)
Research Collaborator	NAGAI Yasuki TSUKADA Kazuaki SUGO Yumi KAWABATA Masako SAEKI Hideya OHTA Akio MOTOISHI Shoji SATO Shunichi FUJISAWA Yutaka
Project Period (FY)	2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
Keywords	RI製造 / 加速器 / 中性子 / がん治療 / 銅67 / 核医学
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Copper-67 is an attractive radionuclide for cancer therapy, because of emissions of medium energy beta particle and gamma rays suitable for imaging. However, the use of Cu-67 in clinical research has been limited due to the difficulty in obtaining a sufficient amount of Cu-67. In this study, we have investigated the production of Cu-67 by the Zn-68(n,x)Cu-67 (x=n’p or d)reaction using fast neutrons from the nat-Be(d,n) or nat-C(d,n) reaction. The highly-purified Cu-67 was obtained from an irradiated Zn-68 oxide sample by the combination of dry thermochromatography and three wet column chromatography (cation exchange resin, chelate resin and anion exchange resin). Furthermore, it was estimated that the specific radioactivity of Cu-67 produced with an accelerator capable of 40 MeV, 2 mA deuteron beams is quite higher than that produced so far with a proton beams.
Free Research Field	放射性同位元素の製造及びその利用
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	本研究成果の学術的意義は、新しい放射性同位元素（RI）製造法である加速器中性子を利用した基礎研究の成果を踏まえ、量及び質、共に臨床応用に応えられる実用レベルのCu-67製造法システムの基盤技術を確立させた点にある。 Cu-67製造・分離システムの基盤技術の確立により、Cu-67の実用化及び国産化へ一歩近づいたと言える。今後、加速器の整備等を図ることにより研究に必要なCu-67の製造を可能にし、Cu-67を用いた放射性薬剤開発の速やかな進展に大きく寄与するとともに、医療用RI医薬品の多くが海外で開発されてきた中で、国産初の新規治療用放射性医薬品の開発に資する。