This disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for producing radionuclides using secondary neutrons from deuteron breakup, and more specifically to systems and methods for producing actinium-225 using secondary neutrons from deuteron breakup.
Actinium-225 is a promising radionuclide for use in a new form of cancer treatment referred to as targeted alpha-particle therapy. Actinium-225 has a relatively long half-life (i.e., about 10 days) followed by a quick succession of 4 α-decays capable of producing the sort of double-strand DNA damage needed to deter tumor growth. It produces no long-lived radioactive products in its decay. The relatively long half-life allows for its incorporation in targeting biomolecules.
Actinium-225 has already shown promise for use the treatment of advanced metastatic prostate cancer. For example, in clinical trials, actinium-225 has been attached to PSMA-617 (prostate membrane specific antigen 617), a small molecule designed to bind to a protein found in high levels in the vast majority of prostate cancers. Once it attaches to cancerous cells, the actinium-225 has been shown to release highly targeted doses of radiation that can kill cancerous cells while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues, with remarkable results in patient survival.
There is currently insufficient actinium-225 available to allow for large-scale clinical studies. The isotope is currently produced in very limited quantities from the decay of uranium-233 produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a part of the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Program. The long half-life of uranium-233 (i.e., 159,000 years) makes the production rate of actinium-225 very slow.
One approach to produce actinium-225 to use high-energy (e.g., 100 MeV to 200 MeV and greater) proton-induced spallation of 232Th. However, this method leads to the co-production of a number of long-lived lanthanide fission products, as well as 227Ac. 227Ac has a lifetime of 21.772 years, making it an unwanted contaminant. Many doctors do not want to expose younger cancer patients to actinium-225 doses that contain some actinium-227 because of the possible long-term risk that could be associated with even trace amounts of actinium-227 (e.g., less than about 0.5 percent of the total actinium).
A second approach is to use the 226Ra(p,2n)225Ac reaction. However, this reaction is also challenging since the reactivity of radium necessitates the use of an irregular salt target with a limited thickness. Heating of the target from the proton beam could present a potential contamination hazard.
Actinium-225 is part of a promising radiopharmaceutical. Described herein are methods to produce the radionuclide actinium-225 that are both efficient and do not co-produce dangerous radioactive impurities that would hinder its use in patients. These methods include irradiating radium-226, which is a naturally occurring isotope, with an energetic neutron beam from thick-target deuteron breakup to form radium-225. Radium-225 in turn decays to actinium-225, which is then chemically separated from the radium-226 for use in production of the radiopharmaceutical.
Details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. Note that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale.
Reference will now be made in detail to some specific examples of the invention including the best modes contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention. Examples of these specific embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention is described in conjunction with these specific embodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to the described embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Particular example embodiments of the present invention may be implemented without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process operations have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
Various techniques and mechanisms of the present invention will sometimes be described in singular form for clarity. However, it should be noted that some embodiments include multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise.
The terms “about” or “approximate” and the like are synonymous and are used to indicate that the value modified by the term has an understood range associated with it, where the range can be ±20%, ±15%, ±10%, ±5%, or ±1%. The terms “substantially” and the like are used to indicate that a value is close to a targeted value, where close can mean, for example, the value is within 80% of the targeted value, within 85% of the targeted value, within 90% of the targeted value, within 95% of the targeted value, or within 99% of the targeted value.
The radiochemical purity or radiopurity of actinium-225 produced using the spallation method (described above) will never be above about 99.9%. At this purity level, there is a roughly equal radiation dose from actinium-225 and actinium-227. The radiation dose from actinium-227 could lead to further cancers.
Described herein are methods of producing actinium-225 that is free of contamination from both fission fragments and actinium-227. The fast-neutron method described herein produces actinium-225 having a radiochemical purity of 99.9999% (i.e., three orders of magnitude better than the spallation method). This radiochemical purity of the actinium-225 can be further improved by means of chemical separations (i.e., at least with respect to the actinium-227 contaminant). These production methods could be used by pharmaceutical companies to produce 225-actinium doped prostate-specific membrane antigen-617 (PSMA-617) for use in cancer treatment.
Most medical radionuclides are currently produced using charged particle or low-energy neutron beams. The methods described herein use secondary neutrons from thick-target deuteron breakup to produce radioisotopes. The deuterons can be accelerated using a charged particle accelerator, such as a cyclotron, a Van de Graff accelerator, a pelletron, a radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linear accelerator (linac), a tandem linac, or a synchrotron, for example. Generating neutrons in this manner using a charged particle accelerator allows for the focus of most of, a majority of, or all of the neutrons in the same direction at a target (e.g., a radium target), an advantage over reactor-based production techniques. Also, about 95 percent of the generated neutrons pass through the target, so there is the potential to use those neutrons to strike a secondary target.
The disclosed methods of producing 225Ac use the 226Ra(n,2n)225Ra reaction followed by β-decay of the 225Ra into 225Ac (t1/2=14.9±0.2 days). This approach takes advantage of the lower value of (Z2/A) for radium compared to higher-Z actinides, which leads to a limited fission cross section, and a correspondingly higher (n,2n) cross section for neutron energies up to 20 MeV.
In some embodiments, a method of producing actinium-225 comprises irradiating a target with a beam of deuterons to generate a beam of neutrons, irradiating a radium-226 target with the beam of neutrons to generate radium-225, allowing at least some of the radium-225 to decay to actinium-225 over a period of time, and separating the actinium-225 from unreacted radium-226 and the radium-225.
In some embodiments, the target is disposed proximate the radium-226 target. In some embodiments, the target is positioned about 0.5 millimeters to 1 millimeter from the radium-226 target. In some embodiments, the target is positioned about 0.5 millimeters to 10 millimeters from the radium-226 target. In some embodiments, the target is positioned about 10 millimeters from the radium-226 target. In some embodiments, the target and the radium-226 target are not in contact.
In some embodiments, the target is held in a water-cooled fixture. Power (e.g., about 100 Watts to 300 Watts) is deposited in the target when the target is irradiated with deuterons. This power causes the target to heat up. The water-cooled fixture can cool the target.
In some embodiments, deuterons in the beam of deuterons have an energy of about 25 megaelectron volts (MeV) to 55 MeV, or about 33 MeV. In some embodiments, the beam of deuterons is generated using a charged particle accelerator (e.g., a cyclotron). In some embodiments, the beam of neutrons has a flux of about 1×10{circumflex over ( )}10 neutrons/cm2/sec to 3×10{circumflex over ( )}12 neutrons/cm2/sec. In some embodiments, neutrons in the beam of neutrons have an energy of about 10 MeV or greater.
In some embodiments, an about 10 micro-A to 1 milli-A beam of deuterons having an energy of about 33 MeV irradiates a beryllium target. This generates a beam of neutrons having a flux of about 1×10{circumflex over ( )}10 neutrons/cm2/sec to 1×10{circumflex over ( )}12 neutrons/cm2/sec. The flux of the neutron beam is dependent on the incident energy and the intensity of the deuteron beam. Generally, the higher the incident energy of the beam of deuterons, the higher the flux of the beam of neutrons. The average energy of neutrons in the beam of neutrons is about half of the energy of the beam or deuterons, or about 17 MeV.
In some embodiments, an about 10 micro-A to 1 milli-A beam of deuterons having an energy of about 50 MeV irradiates a beryllium target. This generates a beam of neutrons having an intensity that is about three times as intense as the beam of neutrons generated with the about 33 MeV deuterons, or about 3×10{circumflex over ( )}10 neutrons/cm2/sec to 3×10{circumflex over ( )}12 neutrons/cm2/sec. The average energy of the beam of neutrons is about half of the energy of the beam or deuterons, or about 25 MeV.
In some embodiments, the neutrons are not thermal neutrons generated in a nuclear reactor. In some embodiments, the neutrons are not generated by a spallation source. Thermal neutrons are generally considered to be neutrons with an energy of less than about 10 kiloelectron volts (keV). Thermal neutrons have an average energy of about 25 millielectron volts (meV). A large percentage (e.g., about 95% to 99%) of the neutrons generated with a cyclotron in the methods described herein are considered to be fast neutrons, or neutrons with an energy about 1 MeV and higher.
In some embodiments, an initial diameter of the beam of neutrons (i.e., a diameter of the neutron beam being emitted from the target) is about the diameter of the beam of deuterons, or about 1 cm to 5 cm in diameter, about 1 cm to 1.5 cm in diameter, or about 1.5 cm in diameter.
The beam of neutrons is considered to be a forward-focused beam of neutrons, and not neutrons being emitted isotopically from a source.
Turning back to
In some embodiments, the radium-226 target comprises a radium-226 salt. Radium-226 salts include radium nitrate (Ra(NO3)2). In some embodiments, the radium-226 salt target has a mass of about 1 milligram (mg). For larger scale production of actinium-225, the radium-226 salt target may have a mass of about 100 mg to 1 gram (g), or about 100 mg to 10 g.
Irradiating the radium-226 target with the beam of neutrons may generate radium-227. Radium-227 beta-decays to actinium-227. In the experiments described in the Examples below, the generation of actinium-227 due to irradiating radium-226 with a beam of neutrons has not been observed. In some embodiments, irradiating the radium-226 target with the beam of neutrons does not generate any actinium-227 or any species that decays to actinium-227.
At block 106, at least some of the radium-225 is allowed to decay to actinium-225 over a period of time. In some embodiments, the radium-225 decays to actinium-225 by beta decay. In some embodiments, the generation of actinium-225 by beta decay of radium-225 is what avoids the generation of actinium-227 and leads to the high purity of the generated actinium-225. In some embodiments, the period of time is at least about 30 days or about 30 days. In some embodiments, the period of time is at least about 15 days or about 15 days
In some embodiments, when actinium-227 is present or may be present in the radium-226 target, about 1 hour to 5 hours, or about 2 hours, after the radium-226 target is irradiated with neutrons, a chemical process is used to separate actinium from the radium. This actinium is disposed of, as this actinium will contain most of or all of the actinium-227 produced from beta-decay as a result of the irradiation. Following this chemical separation, all subsequent actinium collected from this irradiation will be actinium-225 because radium-225 has a much longer half-life than radium-227. As a result, most of the actinium-225 will still be available for separation without the actinium-227 contaminant. Then, at least some of the radium-225 decays to actinium-225 over a period of time.
Turning back to
In some embodiments, prior to irradiating the radium-226 target with the beam of neutrons, the radium-226 target is cleaned to remove any radium-228 and any thorium-228 from the radium-226 target. This cleaning may be performed with a chemical process. Removing radium-228 and thorium-228 from the target prevents actinium-228 from forming and keeps actinium-228 out of the actinium-225 that is generated.
In some embodiments, prior to irradiating the beryllium target with the beam of deuterons, the beam of deuterons passes through an iridium target or a strontium target. In some embodiments, the iridium target or the strontium target is less than about 1 millimeter thick. Passing deuterons through an iridium-193 target produces the platinum-193m radioisotope by a (d,2n reaction). Passing deuterons through a strontium-86 target produces the yttrium-86 radioisotope by a (d,2n reaction).
Irradiating other targets with secondary neutrons from deuteron breakup can be used to produce other radioisotopes. For example, a zinc target (i.e., zinc-64 and zinc-67) irradiated with neutrons would produce copper-64 and copper-67. Other radioisotopes that could be produced include astatine-211, bismuth-213, gallium-68, thorium-229, and lead-212. Yet further radioisotopes that could be produced are listed below in Table 1, including the isotope to be irradiated and the reaction to form the radioisotope.
193Ir(d,2n)193mPt
86Sr(d,2n)86Y
64Zn(n,p)64Cu
67Zn(n,p)67Cu
47Ti(n,p)47Sc
177Hf(n,p)177Lu
181Ta(n,αn)177Lu
100Mo(n,2n)99Mo →
99mTc (β-decay)
32S(n,p)32P
226Ra(n,2n)225Ra →
225Ac (β-decay)
The neutrons pass do not lose much energy passing through a single target and most of the neutrons in the beam of neutrons do not interact with a single target. The majority of neutrons pass through most matter with no interactions. For a target that the neutrons impinge on, a very thick target could be used (e.g., up to about 10 cm thick), a plurality of target materials as shown in
The following examples are intended to be examples of the embodiments disclosed herein, and are not intended to be limiting.
In the Examples described herein, the 88-Inch Cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) was used to generate a beam a deuterons. Deuterium is one of the two stable isotopes of hydrogen. The nucleus of deuterium, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron.
The 88-Inch Cyclotron (the “88”) at LBNL is a variable energy, high-current, multi-particle cyclotron capable of accelerating ions ranging from protons to uranium at energies approaching and exceeding the Coulomb barrier. Maximum currents on the order of 10 particle•μamperes, with a beam power limitation of 1.5 kW, can be extracted from the machine for use in experiments in seven experimental “caves”. Intense light-ion beams, including deuterons, can be used in both the cyclotron vault and Cave 0.
The following method was used to produce actinium-225. First, a highly focused beam of energetic secondary neutrons was produced by accelerating a deuterium ion beam onto a thick beryllium target. The deuteron beam was produced using the LBNL 88-Inch Cyclotron.
Second, this beam of secondary neutrons was made incident on a sample of radium-226, which has a half-life of 1600 years and is found in nature in uranium ores. This resulted in the production of the radium-225, which has a half-life of 14.9 days. This irradiation period would typically take place over one or more days. Since neutrons have extremely long ranges in matter as compared to protons, the radium-226 target can be very thick, leading to a high-production rate of radium-225.
Third, over a period of several tens of days, a portion of the radium-225 decayed to actinium-225.
Fourth, the actinium-225 was separated from the radium-226 for use in the medical applications. The unreacted radium-226 is returned for use in subsequent irradiations using secondary neutrons.
The production rate of actinium-225 when 33 MeV deuterons are used to irradiate a beryllium target is about 2.1 mCi per milli-Amp-hour of deuteron beam per gram of radium-226 (2.1 mCi/mAh/g). For a 0.1 mA beam of deuterons, the production rate of actinium is about 0.21 mCi/hour/gram, or about 5.04 mCi/day/gram.
Below is a table with the experimental parameters and results of two separate runs of the 88-Inch Cyclotron to generate actinium-225.
The numbers for DGA actinium-225/AG50 actinium-225 are the activities that were recovered after chemical separation, and the numbers for DGA radium/AG50 radium are the activities of the contaminating radium-226. The radium-226 would presumably be diminished by additional chemical separation steps. For example, each separation increases the actinium-225/radium-226 ratio by about 10{circumflex over ( )}4, whereas each separation reduces the actinium-225 concentration by only about 10%.
Note that there was less actinium-225 produced/recovered in run 2 than in run 1. Even when accounting for the differences in the neutron fluence, deuteron beam current, radium-226 cross-section, initial masses of radium-226, and the production/decay terms, there was still an approximately 30% lower production rate in run 2 than in run 1. This could be due to the beam spot alignment/focus of the deuteron beam, as the deuteron-breakup reaction is extremely forward focused. Simulations have not yet been performed to confirm this discrepancy, however.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/830,687, filed Apr. 8, 2019, which is herein incorporated by reference.
This invention was made with government support under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in this invention.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2020/026837 | 4/6/2020 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62830687 | Apr 2019 | US |