Background: In order to support the ongoing research across Europe to facilitate access to novel radionuclides, the PRISMAP consortium (European medical radionuclides programme) was established to offer the broadest catalog of non-conventional radionuclides for medical and translational research. The aim of this article is to introduce readers with current status of novel radionuclides in Europe. Main body: A consortium questionnaire was disseminated through the PRISMAP consortium and user community, professional associations and preclinical/clinical end users in Europe and the current status of clinical end-users in nuclear medicine were identified. A total of 40 preclinical/clinical users institutions took part in the survey. Clinical end users currently use the following radionuclides in their studies: 177Lu, 68 Ga, 111In, 90Y, other alpha emitters, 225Ac, 64Cu and Terbium isotopes. Radionuclides that would be of interest for users within the next 2–5 years are 64Cu, Terbium radionuclide “family” and alpha emitters, such as 225Ac. Conclusions: Thanks to a questionnaire distributed by the PRISMAP consortium, the current status and needs of clinical end-users in nuclear medicine were identified.
Background: Early diagnosis of recurrent prostate cancer is a cornerstone for further adequate therapy planning. Therefore, clinical practice and research still focuses on diagnostic tools that can detect prostate cancer in early recurrence when it is undetectable in conventional diagnostic imaging. 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT is a novel method to evaluate patients with biochemical recurrent PCa. The aim of this review was to evaluate the role of 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT in prostate cancer local recurrence, lymph node metastases and bone metastases detection. Methods: Original studies, reviews and five meta-analyses were included in this article. A total of 70 studies were retrieved, 31 were included in the study. Results: All patients described in the studies underwent 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT. The administered 18F-PSMA-1007 individual dose ranged from 159 ± 31 MBq to 363.93 ± 69.40 MBq. Results showed that 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT demonstrates a good detection rate in recurrent prostate cancer. Conclusions: 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT appears to achieve reliable performance in detecting recurrent prostate cancer. The high detection rate of 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT in recurrent prostate cancer was confirmed, especially in local recurrence and small lymph nodes with non-specific characteristics on conventional diagnostic imaging methods. However, several authors emphasize some limitations for this tracer—for example, non-specific uptake in bone lesions that can mimic bone metastases.
18 December 2024 in EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry
In the field of medical and scientific research, radionuclides are used to investigate various physiological and pathological processes. PRISMAP - the European medical radionuclide programme was created to bring together production facilities including intense neutron sources, an isotope mass separation facility, high-power accelerators, biomedical research institutes, and hospitals to support medical research. The aim of this article is to introduce readers with the current status of innovative radionuclides in Europe. A survey was created targeting the latest trends mainly focused on the demand, the production and the distribution of non-routinely used medical radionuclides for use in research, and for pre-clinical and clinical trials. This survey has been disseminated through the PRISMAP community. 16 of 104 respondents were working in the field of radionuclide production. The data found common aspects from all producer-facility respondents: the biggest challenge for the producers is the availability of target materials, which goes hand-in-hand with their purity/enrichment grade. The results show that there are sufficient national or international distribution routes and methods established, although having reported challenges due to legislation constraints, especially for novel radionuclides. Thanks to a questionnaire distributed by the PRISMAP consortium, the current status in radionuclides production was identified. Understanding the current status of radionuclide production is essential for assessing the continent’s capabilities and addressing the burgeoning demands for cutting-edge medical radionuclides.
The radionuclides 43Sc, Sc, and 47Sc can be produced cost-effectively in sufficient yield for medical research and applications by irradiating Ti and V target materials with protons. Maximizing the production yield of the therapeutic 47Sc in the highest cross section energy range of 24–70 MeV results in the co-production of long-lived, high--ray-energy 46Sc and 48Sc contaminants if one does not use enriched target materials. Mass separation can be used to obtain high molar activity and isotopically pure Sc radionuclides from natural target materials; however, suitable operational conditions to obtain relevant activity released from irradiated Ti and V have not yet been established at CERN-MEDICIS and ISOLDE. The objective of this work was to develop target units for the production, release, and purification of Sc radionuclides by mass separation as well as to investigate target materials for the mass separation that are compatible with high-yield Sc radionuclide production in the 9–70 MeV proton energy range. In this study, the in-target production yield obtained at MEDICIS with 1.4 GeV protons is compared with the production yield that can be reached with commercially available cyclotrons. The thick-target materials were irradiated at MEDICIS and comprised of metallic Ti, V metallic foils, and TiC pellets. The produced radionuclides were subsequently released, ionized, and extracted from various target and ion source units and mass separated. Mono-atomic Sc laser and molecule ionization with forced-electron-beam-induced arc-discharge ion sources were investigated. Sc radionuclide production in thick Ti and V targets at MEDICIS is equivalent to low- to medium-energy cyclotron-irradiated targets at medically relevant yields, furthermore benefiting from the mass separation possibility. A two-step laser resonance ionization scheme was used to obtain mono-atomic Sc ion beams. Sc radionuclide release from irradiated target units most effectively could be promoted by volatile scandium fluoride formation. Thus, isotopically pure Sc, 46Sc, and 47Sc were obtained as mono-atomic and molecular ScF ion beams and collected for the first time at CERN-MEDICIS. Among all the investigated target materials, TiC is the most suitable target material for Sc mass separation as molecular halide beams, due to high possible operating temperatures and sustained release.
23 May 2024 in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms