Is Copper-61 the New Gallium-68? Automation and Preclinical Proof-of-Concept of ⁶¹Cu-Based Radiopharmaceuticals for Prostate Cancer Imaging.

ABSTRACT: Background: While gallium-68 has traditionally dominated PET imaging in oncology, copper radionuclides have sparked interest for their potential applications in nuclear medicine and theranostics. Considering the advantageous physical decay properties of copper-61 compared to those of gallium-68, we describe a fully automated GMP-compliant synthesis process for ⁶¹Cu-based radiopharmaceuticals and demonstrate their in vivo application for targeting the overexpressed PSMA by PET/MR imaging. Methods: Copper-61 was obtained through the irradiation of natural zinc liquid targets in a biomedical cyclotron. [⁶¹Cu]Cu-DOTAGA-PSMA-I&T and [⁶¹Cu]Cu-NODAGA-PSMA-I&T were produced without manual intervention in two Synthera^® Extension modules. Rad

SUBMITTER: Rodrigues D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12030277 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature