Preparation and quality control of ¹77Lu-[tris(1,10-phenanthroline) lutetium(III)] complex for therapy.

The ¹77Lu-[tris(1,10-phenanthroline)lutetium(III)] complex (¹77Lu-PQ3) was prepared successfully with high radiochemical purity (> 99%). Lu-177 chloride was obtained by thermal neutron flux (4 × 10¹³ n.cm⁻².s⁻¹) of natural Lu2(NO3)3 sample, dissolved in acidic media. The radiochemical yield was checked by measuring the radiochemical purity of the (177)Lu-PQ complex by ITLC (10 mM DTPA, pH = 5, as mobile phase). The final complex solution was injected intravenously into wild-type male rats and bio-distribution of the complex was checked for up to 48 hours. The dose limiting organs were shown to be the reticulu-endothelial system. The bio-distribution of the labelled compounds in tumour-bearing animals is under investigation.