Abstract
Despite its insufficient availability, Copper-67 is currently attracting much attention for its enormous potential for cancer therapy as theranostic radionuclide. This work aims to accurately measure the unexplored cross section 70Zn(p,x)67Cu in the energy range 45–70 MeV and to evaluate its potential advantages in the case of high-intensity proton beams provided by compact cyclotrons. Thin target foils of enriched 70Zn were manufactured by lamination at the INFN-LNL and irradiated at the ARRONAX facility using the stacked-foils method. A radiochemical procedure for the separation of Cu, Ga and Zn contaminants and the isolation of 67Cu from the irradiated material was developed. The efficiency of the chemical processing was determined for each foil by monitoring the activity of selected tracer radionuclides (61Cu, 66Ga and 69mZn) through γ-spectrometry. Experimental data of the 70Zn(p,x)67Cu, 64Cu, 67Ga, 66Ga, 69mZn, 65Zn cross sections were measured for the first time in the energy range 45–70 MeV and compared with the theoretical results obtained by using the TALYS code. The 67Cu production yield by using enriched 70Zn thick targets was compared with the results obtained by using 68Zn targets in the same irradiation conditions.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by INFN within the scope of the research project COME (COpper MEasurement, CSN3, Dotazioni LNL) and it was also included in the framework of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on “Therapeutic Radiopharmaceuticals Labelled with New Emerging Radionuclides (67Cu, 186Re, 47Sc)” (IAEA CRP No. F22053). It was also partially supported by a grant from the French National Agency for Research called “Investissements d’Avenir”, Equipex Arronax-Plus (ANR-11-EQPX-0004), Labex IRON (ANR-11-LABX-18-01) and ISITE NExT (ANR-16-IDEX-0007). Authors would like to thank Massimo Loriggiola (Target Laboratory at INFN-LNL) for manufacturing target foils and the staff at the ARRONAX facility for arranging all irradiation runs. Contribution from Dr. Thomas Sounalet (University of Nantes), Dr. Licia Uccelli (University of Ferrara) and Prof. Mario Marengo (S. Orsola Hospital in Bologna) for practical work in radiochemistry is gratefully acknowledged. Authors are also grateful to Prof. Giovanni Fiorentini (University of Ferrara) and Dr. Carlos Rossi Alvarez (INFN-LNL) for helpful discussion and to Dr. Pier Paolo Buso, Dr. Gian Pietro Bezzon, Dr. Alessandro Zanon, Dr. Stefania Canella and Dr. Sara Carturan (INFN-LNL) for their constant support.
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