Production logistics of 177Lu for radionuclide therapy

Palliative treatment of metastatic bone pain with radiopharmaceuticals: A perspective beyond Strontium-89 and Samarium-153

“…The direct production route is based on neutron irradiation of 176 Lu, via 176 Lu(n,γ) 177 Lu reaction, the specific activity values vary significantly depending upon the irradiation conditions (neutron flux, irradiation time, etc.). For direct irradiation of enriched 176 Lu, a specific activity value >35 Ci/mg can be obtained at neutron flux >3x10 13 n.cm -2 .s -1 (Pillai et al, , 2003. The indirect 176 Yb(n,γ) 177 Yb→ 177 Lu production route requires chemical separation of 177 Lu from the 176 Yb target atoms and the specific activity should be close to the theoretical value (110 Ci/mg) (Dash et al, 2015;Pillai et al, 2015).…”

“…Several therapeutic approaches targeting bone metastases and its associated effects are available, including the use of analgesics, chemotherapy, external beam radiotherapy and radionuclide systemic therapy. The latter, systemic palliative targeted therapy with suitable radiopharmaceuticals, has emerged as a particularly appealing and efficient treatment modality for patients with multiple skeletal metastases (Maini et al, 2003;Pandit-Taskar et al, 2014;Pillai et al, 2003;Silberstein and Drive, 1996).…”

Computational modeling of radiobiological effects in bone metastases for different radionuclides

“…The latter, systemic palliative targeted-therapy with suitable radiopharmaceuticals, has emerged as a particularly appealing and efficient treatment modality for patients with multiple skeletal metastases (Maini et al 2003;Pandit-Taskar et al 2014;Silberstein 1996;Pillai et al 2003). …”

“…In addition to the physical properties of different radionuclides for target-tumor therapy, other characteristics should be taken into account while searching for the ideal radiopharmaceuticals for palliative treatment of bone metastases. For example, the radionuclide production costs and feasibility should be determined, and consideration should be given on whether its properties are amenable for radiochemistry procedures (Pillai et al 2003). It is also important that the radionuclide to be used for palliative treatment of bone metastases allows for in vivo imaging, in order to assist with the determination of the suitable therapeutic dose to be used and to facilitate treatment monitoring (Henriksen et al 2003;Pandit-Taskar et al 2014).…”

“…Its clinical use was approved by the FDA in 2013 (Harrison et al 2013). Another promising radionuclide recently proposed for palliative treatment of bone metastasis was 177 Lu due to its appealing physical characteristics, in particular its half-life of 6.73 days, gamma ray emission of 113keV (6.4%) and 208 keV (10.4%) and tissue penetration of 1.8 mm (Pillai et al 2003;Dash et al 2015).…”