Humanized Anti-MUC16 Antibody-Conjugated Contrast Agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Pancreatic Cancer

Background/Objectives: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is diagnosed at a late stage with distant metastasis in an overwhelming 50% of cases, and the prognosis is poor. Treating this extremely aggressive disease with standard-of-care therapies has led to modest benefits in overall survival, mainly due to a lack of targeted early treatment modalities, as early detection has not yet been possible. Mucin-16 (MUC16) is a glycoprotein overexpressed in more than 60% of patients with PDAC and is a tumor-specific biomarker. Methods: In this study, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probe to facilitate the detection of early and late lesions of PDAC is developed by conjugating a MUC16-targeted humanized antibody (huAR9.6) with gadolinium. Results: In preclinical mouse models, this MUC16-targeted MRI probe demonstrates effective contrast enhancement in early lesions of PDAC in the subcutaneous setting and allows for the detection of late-stage pancreatic cancer tumors in an orthotopic model. The probe did not induce any toxicity in vital organs at the administered doses. Conclusions: This study establishes that synthesizing a MUC16-targeted MRI probe is feasible and allows for the better high-resolution contrast enhancement of MUC16+ PDAC lesions to facilitate detection and possibly better treatment strategies.