First-in-human study of PSMA-targeting agent, [18F]AlF-P16-093: dosimetry and initial evaluation in prostate cancer patients

PSMA and SSTR2 Dual-Targeting Theranostic Agents for Neuroendocrine-Differentiated Prostate Cancer (NEPC)

Radioactive prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting agents are clinically useful for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with PSMA-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Neuroendocrine-differentiated prostate cancer (NEPC), a highly aggressive subtype that is strongly associated with a poor clinical prognosis, may present with reduced PSMA expression and evade detection with PSMA-targeted agents. Several studies have shown elevated uptake of somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) ligands in PSMA-negative NEPC. By combining a SSTR2-targeting peptide, JR11, with previously reported PSMA-targeting ligands, P16-093 and P17-087, [68Ga]Ga-1 and [68Ga]Ga/[177Lu]Lu-2 were designed and synthesized. The cell uptake of [68Ga]Ga-1 was comparable to [68Ga]Ga-P16-093 in PSMA-positive cell lines, while [68Ga]Ga-1 and [68Ga]Ga-2 showed a positive but slightly lower uptake than [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE in SSTR2-positive cell lines. In vivo studies in SSTR2+ or PSMA+ tumor-bearing mice demonstrated that [68Ga]Ga-1 and [68Ga]Ga/[177Lu]Lu-2 showed positive uptake for both SSTR2+ and PSMA+ tumors. These dual-targeting radiotracers are potentially valuable for the diagnosis and radioligand therapy of NEPC.

68Ga/177Lu-Labeled Bivalent Agents for Targeting Hypoxia and PSMA-Binding in Prostate Cancer

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an excellent target for cancer detection and therapy. Hypoxia is prevalent in solid tumors, and various nitroimidazole (NI) radioligands can be trapped inside hypoxic cells for diagnosis and therapy. To enhance tumor uptake and retention, we designed bivalent agents (compounds 1-8) incorporating a hypoxia-sensitive NI-moiety and a PSMA-targeting group. Ligands 1-8 were successfully prepared and labeled with 68Ga or 177Lu. Among them, [68Ga]Ga-8 ([68Ga]Ga-AAZTA-NI-PSMA-093) demonstrated significantly higher cellular accumulation under hypoxic conditions than under normoxic conditions, suggesting hypoxia-selective trapping by the introduction of NI group. PET/CT imaging at 60 min postinjection of [68Ga]Ga-8 revealed high tumor uptake (SUVmax: 10.68%ID/mL) in the tumor-bearing mice model. SPECT/CT imaging of [177Lu]Lu-8 at 24 and 48 h postinjection demonstrated excellent accumulation and retention. Preliminary studies indicate that [68Ga]Ga/[177Lu]Lu-8 may be promising bivalent agents targeting hypoxia and PSMA binding for diagnosis and radiotherapy.

Determining the optimal pharmacokinetic modelling and simplified quantification method of [18F]AlF-P16-093 for patients with primary prostate cancer (PPCa)

PURPOSE

This paper discusses the optimization of pharmacokinetic modelling and alternate simplified quantification method for [18F]AlF-P16-093, a novel tracer for in vivo imaging of prostate cancer.

METHODS

Dynamic PET/CT scans were conducted on eight primary prostate cancer patients, followed by a whole-body scan at 60 min post-injection. Time-activity curves (TACs) were obtained by drawing volumes of interest for primary prostatic and metastatic lesions. Optimal kinetic modelling involved evaluating three compartmental models (1T2K, 2T3K, and 2T4K) accounting for fractional blood volume (Vb). The simplified quantification method was then determined based on the correlation between the static uptake measure and total distribution volume (Vt) obtained from the optimal pharmacokinetic analysis.

RESULTS

In total, 17 intraprostatic lesions, 10 lymph nodes, and 36 osseous metastases were evaluated. Visually, the contrast of the tumor increased and showed the steepest incline within the first few minutes, whereas background activity decreased over time. Full pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that a reversible two-compartmental (2T4K) model is the preferred kinetic model for the given tracer. The kinetic parameters K1, k3, Vb, and Vt were all significantly higher in lesions when compared with normal tissue (P < 0.01). Several simplified protocols were tested for approximating comprehensive dynamic quantification in tumors, with image-based SURmean (the ratio of tumor SUVmean to blood SUVmean) within the 28-34 min window found to be sufficient for approximating the total distribution Vt values (R2 = 0.949, P < 0.01). Both Vt and SURmean correlated significantly with the total serum prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) levels (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

This study introduced an optimized pharmacokinetic modelling approach and a simplified acquisition method for [18F]AlF-P16-093, a novel PSMA-targeted radioligand, highlighting the feasibility of utilizing one static PET imaging (between 30 and 60 min) for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Note that the image-derived input function in this study may not reflect the true corrected plasma input function, therefore the interpretation of the associated kinetic parameter estimates should be done with caution.

Correctly identifying the cells of origin is essential for tailoring treatment and understanding the emergence of cancer stem cells and late metastases

Malignancy manifests itself by deregulated growth and the ability to invade surrounding tissues or metastasize to other organs. These properties are due to genetic and/or epigenetic changes, most often mutations. Many aspects of carcinogenesis are known, but the cell of origin has been insufficiently focused on, which is unfortunate since the regulation of its growth is essential to understand the carcinogenic process and guide treatment. Similarly, the concept of cancer stem cells as cells having the ability to stop proliferation and rest in a state of dormancy and being resistant to cytotoxic drugs before "waking up" and become a highly malignant tumor recurrence, is not fully understood. Some tumors may recur after decades, a phenomenon probably also connected to cancer stem cells. The present review shows that many of these questions are related to the cell of origin as differentiated cells being long-term stimulated to proliferation.