Investigation of Radiolabeling Efficacy by Enhancement of the Chemical form of no Carrier Added ¹⁷⁷Lu Isolated by Electro Amalgamation Process

Background: Due to the suitable nuclear decay characteristics, ¹⁷⁷Lu is an attractive radionuclide for various therapeutic applications. The non-carrier added form of¹⁷⁷Lu has drawn much attention because of its high specific activity needed in radiolabeling studies. There have been several separation methods for NCA¹⁷⁷Lu production. Objectives: Among the various separation methods, the electro-amalgamation separation method has got a large potential for large scale production. Li presence is a significant problem in this separation method, which seriously affects the radiolabeling efficiency. Methods: In this study, Li was separated from the final product of electro-amalgamation separation by adding an ion-exchange chromatography column to the separation process. Results: NCA ¹⁷⁷Lu was obtained by 84.09% ELM separation yield, 99.9% radionuclide purity and, 65 Ci/g specific activity. Then, ¹⁷⁷Lu (¹⁷⁷LuCl3 chemical form) was separated from Li using the ion exchange chromatography method by a separation yield of 94%. The obtained results of the radiolabeling efficacy studies showed that the radiochemical purity and radio-complex stability were significantly increased by separating NCA ¹⁷⁷Lu from Li. Conclusion: This new separation setup consisting of two steps allows using ¹⁷⁷Lu of such a favorable quality for labeling studies.