Abstract
Purpose: Liver cancer is the second most common cause of death worldwide. This study was to investigate the SPECT/CT, ultrasound, biodistribution and therapeutic evaluation of 188Re-human serum albumin microspheres (188Re-HSAM) in the GP7TB orthotopic hepatoma rat model.
Materials and methods: HSAM was labeled with 188Re by using a home-made kit and microwave system. The 188Re-HSAM was administered via intraarterial route. The in vivo distribution of 188Re-HSAM was determined by biodistribution analysis and nanoSPECT/CT system. In efficacy, tumor volumes were tracked longitudinally by three-dimensional ultrasound.
Results: The biodistribution and nanoSPECT/CT imaging showed that 188Re-HSAM could accumulate in liver and tumor. The correlation coefficient of tumor volumes done by three-dimensional ultrasound and at autopsy was 0.997. In efficacy, tumor volume in the normal saline-treated group was 1803.2 mm3 at 54 days after tumor inoculation. Tumor volumes in the 103.6 MBq and 240.5 MBq of 188Re-HSAM treated groups were 381 and 267.4 mm3 (p = 0.001 and 0.004), respectively.
Conclusions: These results show that three-dimensional ultrasound with a high spatial resolution and contrast in soft tissue can become imaging modality in assessing tumor burden and tumor progression in an orthotopic rat model. The longitudinally therapeutic evaluation of 188Re-HSAM demonstrated dose-dependent tumor growth inhibition with increased dose in the GP7TB orthotopic hepatoma rat model.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr Y.C. Lin for providing us with the GP7TB cell line, Mr M.S. Lin and Dr C.Y. Li for providing us with the rhenium-188, and Mr C.L. Ho and Mr H.L. Yu for their technical support and assistance in the animal tumor model.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.