Evaluation of nuclear reaction cross sections via proton induced reactions for the production of ⁷²As: a potential entrant for theranostic pairs

Theranostic applications of radiopharmaceuticals have revolutionized present era specially, dealing with cancer diseases. Increase in the uses of radionuclides in nuclear medicine has resulted in the demands of optimized new radionuclides to be produced focussing on the economy, simplicity and maximum yield. Some arsenic radionuclides have wide range of positron-emission, half-lives ranging from an hour to weeks and have potential to be used for nuclear medicine. Present work will elucidate all over the production of ⁷²As on Germanium (Ge) and Selenium (Se). The experimental results obtained by several nuclear reactions were compared with the results of nuclear model calculations using the codes ALICE-IPPE, EMPIRE 3.2 and TALYS 1.9. The thick target yields (TTY) of ⁷²As were calculated from the recommended excitation functions. Analysis of radio-impurities was also discussed. A comparison of the various radio-impurities showed that to produce ⁷²As, ⁷²Ge(p, n)⁷²As and ⁷⁶Se(p, x)⁷²As reactions in different energy ranges. We have identified the nuclear process which gives high yield with minimum impurities to make it as a potential candidate for theranostic applications and in particular in Positron Emission Tomography (PET).