Overexpression, activation, and mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are commonly found in solid tumors. The aim of this study was to develop a PET-based method for detecting the constitutively active mutant de2-7 EGFR, which is associated with disease progression and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy in glioma. Methods: The chimeric antibody ch806, which selectively binds an epitope of the EGFR that is exposed only on overexpressed, mutant, or ligand-activated forms of the receptor, was conjugated to the radiohalogen 124 I via the residualizing ligand IMP-R4, and in vitro properties were characterized. In vivo biodistribution and small-animal PET studies were performed in BALB/c nude mice bearing U87MG.de2-7 glioma xenografts. Imaging results were correlated with measured tumor uptake of the radioconjugate. Results: 124 I-IMP-R4-ch806 had an immunoreactivity of 78.3% and was stable for 7 d when incubated in serum in vitro. The biodistribution analysis of 124 I-IMP-R4-ch806 demonstrated a maximal uptake of 30.95 6 6.01 percentage injected dose per gram (%ID/g) in U87MG.de2-7 xenografts at 48 h after injection, with prolonged tumor retention (6.07 6 0.80 %ID/g at 216 h after injection). The tumor-to-blood ratio increased from 0.44 at 4 h after injection to a maximum of 4.70 at 168 h after injection. PET of 124 I-IMP-R4-ch806 biodistribution was able to clearly detect the U87MG.de2-7 tumors at 24 h after injection and for at least 168 h after injection. Correlation between tumor PET image quantitation of 124 I-IMP-R4-ch806 and %ID/g determined from resected tissues (r 5 0.9350) was excellent. Conclusion: These results show that immuno-PET with 124 I-IMP-R4-ch806 is feasible and allows noninvasive quantitation of de2-7 EGFR expression in vivo. Monocl onal antibodies (mAbs) are an established therapeutic tool in oncology for immunotherapy and signaling abrogation of tumor cells and as carrier molecules to deliver a toxic load (e.g., radioimmunotherapy) (1). More recently, these antibodies have been labeled with positron emitters for use as a diagnostic tool in combination with PET scanning (immuno-PET) (1-4). This technique has been developed to allow the noninvasive, high-resolution, quantitative imaging of tumors using mAbs raised against tumorspecific or -prevalent antigens. Potential applications of immuno-PET include aiding in antibody development and in patient selection for antibody therapy either by confirming the presence of antibody binding in patients planned for immunotherapy or by determining the radiation dosimetry in patients planned for radioimmunotherapy (1,2).The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an attractive target for tumor-targeted antibody therapy because it is overexpressed in many types of epithelial tumors and is associated with poor prognosis in several tumor types (5). Overexpression of the receptor is often caused by amplification of the EGFR gene, an event also linked with EGFR mutation (6). The de2-7 EGFR (or EGFRvIII) extracellular truncation of ...