{"entity":{"id":"zr-89","kind":"isotope","name":"Zirconium-89","aka":["89Zr"],"tldr":"A radioactive metal that lasts about three days, long enough to attach to a whole antibody and follow it around the body for several days on a PET scan, which is why it underpins 'immuno-PET'.","summary":"Zirconium-89 decays with a 78.4-hour (3.3-day) half-life, mostly by electron capture (about 77%) and partly by positron emission (about 23%), to metastable yttrium-89, which promptly emits a 909 keV gamma. That three-day half-life is the reason 89Zr is the default radiometal for immuno-PET: intact monoclonal antibodies take two to four days to reach optimal tumour-to-background ratios in vivo, far longer than any conventional PET isotope survives, but well matched to zirconium-89's decay.\n\nIt is made almost entirely by cyclotron bombardment of a solid yttrium-89 target, 89Y(p,n)89Zr; because yttrium-89 is 100% naturally abundant the target needs no isotopic enrichment, which keeps production comparatively simple and inexpensive, though proton energy has to be kept below about 13 MeV to avoid the long-lived 88Zr impurity. After irradiation, 89Zr is purified on a hydroxamate resin and conjugated to antibodies through chelators such as desferrioxamine (DFO) or newer macrocyclic cages designed to resist the free-zirconium bone uptake that DFO-based constructs can show over several days.\n\nIn the Nuclide graph, 89Zr's main current oncology use is CAIX PET with 89Zr-girentuximab in renal cell carcinoma, which forms an emerging diagnostic-therapeutic pair with 177Lu- or 225Ac-labelled girentuximab.","status":"emerging","asOf":"2026-09-22","links":[{"label":"Springer: clinical nuclear medicine applications of zirconium-89 immuno-PET","url":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41181-025-00418-8"},{"label":"EJNMMI Radiopharmacy & Chemistry: good practices for 89Zr production","url":"https://ejnmmipharmchem.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41181-024-00258-y"}],"tags":["positron emitter","immuno-PET","long-lived PET"],"related":["girentuximab-zr89"],"indications":["rcc"],"sections":[],"technologies":["immuno-pet","caix-pet","cyclotron-isotope-production","pet"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"symbol":"89Zr","element":"Zirconium","massNumber":89,"halfLife":"78.4 hours (3.3 days)","emissions":["electron capture ~77%","β+ ~23% (mean 396 keV)","γ 909 keV (from 89mY, 99%)"],"emissionClass":"positron","use":"imaging","production":"Cyclotron: 89Y(p,n)89Zr on a solid yttrium-89 target (proton energy kept below ~13 MeV to avoid 88Zr impurity); 89Y(d,2n)89Zr with deuterons is an alternative.","supply":"adequate","supplyNote":"Yttrium-89 is 100% naturally abundant and needs no enrichment, and purification chemistry is well established, so 89Zr is considered one of the more scalable non-conventional PET radiometals; several commercial suppliers now provide it.","chelators":["DFO (desferrioxamine)","DFO*","macropa/other next-generation cages"],"pairedWith":["lu-177","ac-225"],"since":2010},"route":"/isotopes/zr-89/","neighbours":{"drug":[{"id":"girentuximab-zr89","kind":"drug","name":"Zirconium-89 girentuximab","route":"/drugs/girentuximab-zr89/"}],"indication":[{"id":"rcc","kind":"indication","name":"Renal cell carcinoma","route":"/indications/rcc/"}],"technology":[{"id":"automated-synthesis-modules","kind":"technology","name":"Automated synthesis modules","route":"/technologies/automated-synthesis-modules/"},{"id":"caix-pet","kind":"technology","name":"CAIX PET (89Zr-girentuximab)","route":"/technologies/caix-pet/"},{"id":"cyclotron-isotope-production","kind":"technology","name":"Cyclotron isotope production (F-18, Ga-68, Cu-64, Zr-89, At-211)","route":"/technologies/cyclotron-isotope-production/"},{"id":"her2-pet","kind":"technology","name":"HER2 PET","route":"/technologies/her2-pet/"},{"id":"immuno-pet","kind":"technology","name":"Immuno-PET","route":"/technologies/immuno-pet/"},{"id":"medical-cyclotrons-synthesis-modules","kind":"technology","name":"Medical cyclotrons, hot cells, and synthesis modules","route":"/technologies/medical-cyclotrons-synthesis-modules/"},{"id":"pet","kind":"technology","name":"PET (positron emission tomography)","route":"/technologies/pet/"},{"id":"trop2-pet","kind":"technology","name":"TROP2 PET","route":"/technologies/trop2-pet/"}],"company":[{"id":"telix","kind":"company","name":"Telix Pharmaceuticals","route":"/companies/telix/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"hif-vhl","kind":"pathway","name":"VHL / HIF oxygen sensing","route":"/pathways/hif-vhl/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct06750419","kind":"trial","name":"89Zr-TLX250 for PET/CT Imaging of ccRCC - ZIRCON-CP Study","route":"/trials/nct06750419/"},{"id":"nct03533283","kind":"trial","name":"An Open-Label Phase lB/II Study of Glofitamab and Atezolizumab or Polatuzumab Vedotin in Adult Patients With Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma","route":"/trials/nct03533283/"},{"id":"zircon","kind":"trial","name":"ZIRCON","route":"/trials/zircon/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-caix-theranostics","kind":"idea","name":"CAIX theranostics: 89Zr-girentuximab PET and 177Lu/225Ac-girentuximab therapy","route":"/ideas/idea-caix-theranostics/"},{"id":"idea-cd8-pet-io","kind":"idea","name":"CD8 PET to stop or switch immunotherapy early","route":"/ideas/idea-cd8-pet-io/"},{"id":"idea-total-body-pet-dosimetry","kind":"idea","name":"Total-body PET for personalised radioligand dosing","route":"/ideas/idea-total-body-pet-dosimetry/"},{"id":"idea-trop2-pet-selection","kind":"idea","name":"TROP2 PET to choose and sequence TROP2 ADCs","route":"/ideas/idea-trop2-pet-selection/"}],"person":[{"id":"jason-lewis","kind":"person","name":"Jason S. Lewis","route":"/people/jason-lewis/"}],"opportunity":[{"id":"opp-caix-indeterminate-renal-mass","kind":"opportunity","name":"CAIX imaging of the indeterminate renal mass","route":"/opportunities/opp-caix-indeterminate-renal-mass/"},{"id":"opp-dll3-imaging-sclc","kind":"opportunity","name":"DLL3 imaging for small-cell lung cancer","route":"/opportunities/opp-dll3-imaging-sclc/"},{"id":"opp-her3-imaging-crossover","kind":"opportunity","name":"HER3 imaging, and why three tracers stalled","route":"/opportunities/opp-her3-imaging-crossover/"}],"section":[{"id":"f-radiochemistry","kind":"section","name":"Radiochemistry & manufacturing","route":"/fronts/f-radiochemistry/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-zircon-lancet-oncol-2024","kind":"paper","name":"ZIRCON: [89Zr]Zr-girentuximab PET-CT for detecting clear-cell renal cell carcinoma","route":"/key-papers/paper-zircon-lancet-oncol-2024/"}],"target":[{"id":"tpbg-5t4","kind":"target","name":"5T4 (trophoblast glycoprotein)","route":"/targets/tpbg-5t4/"},{"id":"her3","kind":"target","name":"HER3 (ERBB3)","route":"/targets/her3/"},{"id":"mesothelin","kind":"target","name":"Mesothelin (MSLN)","route":"/targets/mesothelin/"},{"id":"sortilin","kind":"target","name":"Sortilin (SORT1)","route":"/targets/sortilin/"}],"term":[{"id":"specific-activity","kind":"term","name":"Specific activity and molar activity","route":"/terms/specific-activity/"},{"id":"theranostic-pair-term","kind":"term","name":"Theranostic pair","route":"/terms/theranostic-pair-term/"}]}}