Context: Herceptin and its fragments have been radiolabeled and used in the imaging of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/neu-positive tumors and development of diagnostic kits is of great importance in radiopharmacy.Aims: In this study,
4,7,4,7, In-DOTA-trastuzumab) was successively prepared and evaluated for ultimate use in the HER2 antigen imaging in oncology.Settings and Design: The conjugate was prepared, labeled and evaluated using in vitro (radioimmunoassay [RIA], enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), stability, binding, internalization)/in vivo (bio-distribution, single-photon emission computed tomography [SPECT]) experiments.Materials and Methods: 111 In-DOTA-trastuzumab was prepared followed by determination of radiochemical purity (RCP), integrity of protein, immunoreactivity of radiolabeled antibody with HER2/neu antigen (by SkBr3 cell line binding and RIA methods) were determined followed by stability tests, internalization studies and the tissue bio-distribution determination in wild-type rats as well as SPECT imaging in SkBr3-bearing mice.Statistical Analysis Used: All values were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (mean ± SD) and the data were compared using Student's t-test. Statistical significance was defined as P < 0.05.
Results: 111 In-DOTA-trastuzumab was prepared (RCP >95 ± 0.5%, S.A. 5.3 µCi/µg) with the average number of chelators per antibody of 6:1 showing significant immune-reactivity retention using ELISA.