H(4)octapa-trastuzumab: versatile acyclic chelate system for 111In and 177Lu imaging and therapy

A bifunctional derivative of the versatile acyclic chelator H4octapa, p-SCN-Bn-H4octapa, has been synthesized for the first time. The chelator was conjugated to the HER2/neu-targeting antibody trastuzumab and labeled in high radiochemical purity and specific activity with the radioisotopes (111)In and (177)Lu. The in vivo behavior of the resulting radioimmunoconjugates was investigated in mice bearing ovarian cancer xenografts and compared to analogous radioimmunoconjugates employing the ubiquitous chelator 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA). The H4octapa-trastuzumab conjugates displayed faster radiolabeling kinetics with more reproducible yields under milder conditions (15 min, RT, ~94-95%) than those based on DOTA-trastuzumab (60 min, 37 °C, ~50-88%). Further, antibody integrity was better preserved in the (111)In- and (177)Lu-octapa-trastuzumab constructs, with immunoreactive fractions of 0.99 for each compared to 0.93-0.95 for (111)In- and (177)Lu-DOTA-trastuzumab. These results translated to improved in vivo biodistribution profiles and SPECT imaging results for (111)In- and (177)Lu-octapa-trastuzumab compared to (111)In- and (177)Lu-DOTA-trastuzumab, with increased tumor uptake and higher tumor-to-tissue activity ratios.