ISOTOPE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND... | U.S. DOE Office of Science(SC) Official websites use .gov .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS lock ) or means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. To Advance Cancer Therapy, University Starts Producing Terbium-161 A University of Utah research team demonstrates that a low power university research reactor can produce terbium-161 at high purity from gadolinium-160. Graphic courtesy of Connor Holiski. Steps in terbium-161 (Tb-161) production. The University of Utah TRIGA reactor induces thermal neutron capture on gadolinium-160 (Gd-160), which decays to Tb-161. Separating the Gd-160 target yields high-purity Tb-161 for cancer therapy and diagnosis. The Science Theranostic agents are substances that can both diagnose and treat cancer at the same time. One such substance is the radioactive isotope terbium-161 (Tb-161). Researchers have shown that Tb-161 can be produced at high purity using a low-power university research reactor. The project produced Tb-161 by irradiating gadolinium-160 (Gd-160) targets. It demonstrated that these two isotopes can be efficiently separated. The resulting Tb-161 had the purity needed for use in medical applications. The Impact Tb-161 is a powerful theranostic agent because of the way it breaks down, or decays . As it decays, Tb-161 releases three types of particles: beta particles (high-energy electrons ), low-energy electrons, and low-energy photons . The beta particles are useful for treating larger tumors, while the low-energy electrons are effective at treating very small tumors or potentially, single cancer cells. The low-energy photons allow doctors to image where the radioactive isotope is in the body. These functions enable doctors to use the isotope to diagnose and treat cancer at the same time. Summary Tb-161 is a medical radioisotope with a half-life of approximately 7 days, meaning that it loses half of its radioactivity in a week. In this study, researchers from the University of Utah, in collaboration with the University of Missouri, produced Tb-161 using the University of Utah’s TRIGA research reactors. These low-power reactors are used for training and research. In the reactors, Gd-160 target materials are exposed to neutrons. This causes the Gd-160 to absorb a neutron and transform into Gd-161, which then quickly decays into Tb-161. This process is advantageous because it produces a new element (Tb-161) that can be separated from the original material (Gd-160). This is unlike traditional methods where the product is chemically identical to the target. Separating two neighboring elements can be difficult, but this study developed a three-step process to efficiently isolate Tb-161 from gadolinium. First, the researchers removed most of the original gadolinium, which makes up the bulk of the target. Next, they concentrated the remaining material and repeated the process to improve efficiency. Finally, they performed a final cleanup step to remove any residual gadolinium, yielding research-scale quantities (2 to 8 millicuries) of high-purity Tb-161. To confirm the product’s suitability for further research, the scientists tested its purity and found it met the standards required for medical applications. This approach shows that low-power research reactors can be valuable tools for producing important medical radioisotopes. Contact Tara Mastren University of Utah Tara.Mastren@utah.edu Funding This research is supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) Isotope Program, managed by the DOE Office of Science for Isotope R&D and Production. This work was also supported in part by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fellowship. Publications Holiski, C. K., et al. The Production and Separation of 161 Tb with High Specific Activity at the University of Utah Applied Radiation and Isotopes 214 , 111530 (2024). [DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2024.111530] Highlight Categories Program: IP Performer: University Progress Towards Unlocking Antimony’s Cancer Treatment Potential Researchers gain a new understanding of the binding chemistry of radioactive antimony, opening doors for targeted therapy. Improving Large-Scale Domestic Production of Americium-241, a Critical Component in Smoke Detectors and Nuclear Batteries Researchers explore the effects of radiation and harsh chemicals to optimize americium-241 production. Contact Address Office of Isotope R&D and Production, IRP U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20585-1290 Phone Tel (301) 903-3400 Email Send us a message Isotopes@science.doe.gov Top Leaving Office of Science The link you have requested will take you to a website outside the Office of Science. Please click the following link to continue: Thank you for visiting our site. We hope your visit was informative and enjoyable. sub nav