Gallium-68 chelate imaging of human colon carcinoma xenografts pretargeted with bispecific anti-CD44V6/anti-gallium chelate antibodies

Recently, we demonstrated the feasibility of combining improved tumor-to-tissue contrasts and PET imaging for immunoscintigraphic tumor localization using a multistep targeting technique that consists of the administration of an antitumor/antihapten bispecific monoclonal antibody (BS-MAb), a blocker to saturate the antihapten binding sites of the BS-MAb that are still present in the circulation, and a low molecular weight Ga chelate, labeled with positron emitter 68Ga, serving as the hapten. Due to this technique, the biodistribution of the radiolabeled hapten is governed mainly by the binding characteristics of both the antitumor and the antihapten part of the BS-MAb. For a future clinical implementation of the method, we investigated MAb VFF18, which is reactive with the adhesion molecule CD44V6, a tumor-associated antigen, and up-regulated in colon, squamous cell and pancreas carcinoma, and two anti-Ga chelate MAbs, which are highly selective for only one of the two enantiomers (optical isomers) of the inherently racemic Ga chelate. METHODS: From the VFF18 MAb and the anti-Ga chelate MAbs, two BS-MAbs containing the same antitumor parts, but different antihapten parts, were prepared and tested for multistep targeting in human colon carcinoma-bearing nude mice. RESULTS: Despite identical biodistributions of both BS-MAbs and their very similar affinities for the corresponding Ga chelate enantiomers, tumor uptake of the two enantiomers 1 hr postinjection was significantly different [8.7 +/- 1.9% versus 5.8% +/- 1.6% of the injected dose/g (%i.d./g)], with tumor-to-blood ratios being higher for the BS-MAb showing the lower tumor uptake (7.6 +/- 1.6 versus 4.7 +/- 0.6). From data obtained with each BS-MAb, a similar initial tumor binding of approximately 15.5%i.d./g, but different in vivo half-lives of the corresponding BS-MAb-enantiomer immune complexes, could be estimated. Pretargeting with a mixture of both BS-MAbs followed by the administration of the racemic Ga chelate resulted in the lowest tumor uptake (3.9% +/- 1.5%i.d./g). PET imaging of nude mice with the enantiomeric, as well as with the racemic, 68Ga chelate demonstrated a clear delineation of tumors against blood pool background. CONCLUSION: Multistep immunoscintigraphy with BS-MAbs markedly increases tumor-to-tissue ratios in nude mice and enables PET imaging. Using a BS-MAb containing MAb VFF18, a more sensitive localization of CD44V6-positive tumors in patients should also be obtained.