186Re-etidronate in breast cancer patients with metastatic bone pain. (1/195)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 186Re-1,1-hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (etidronate) in breast cancer patients with painful bone metastases. METHODS: Thirty patients with advanced breast cancer who had metastatic bone pain were treated with 186Re-etidronate using different dosages in a noncomparative, open-label study. Twenty-four patients were evaluated for efficacy (6 patients had incomplete datasets). Dosages varied from 1295 to 2960 MBq (35 to 80 mCi). Efficacy was evaluated according to the multidimensional pain model using a paper-and-pencil diary. The diary was kept twice daily for 8-10 wk (2 wk before through 6-8 wk after 186Re-etidronate treatment). Response was determined with a strict criteria, in which pain intensity (PI), medication index (MI) and daily activities (DA) were core determinants. Response was defined as: (a) Reduced PI > or = 5% while MI and DA were at least constant; or (b) Reduced PI <25% in combination with improvement of MI or DA > or = 25%, without worsening of either factor. Duration of response should always exceed a minimum of 2 wk. RESULTS: Fifty-eight percent (n = 14) of all patients reported a response. The maximum follow-up period was 8 wk. Duration of response ranged from 2 to 8 wk (mean 4 wk). Patients (14/24) not only experienced considerable pain reduction, but in 12 patients this was also accompanied by noteworthy reduction in MI (> or = 25%). No clear dose-response relationship was found. CONCLUSION: With strict pain assessment criteria, 186Re-etidronate showed a response of 58% in the palliative treatment of metastatic bone pain originating from breast cancer.  (+info)

Combination 186Re-HEDP and cisplatin supra-additive treatment effects in prostate cancer cells. (2/195)

Radionuclide therapy has proven to be an efficacious palliative treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. Its potential therapeutic possibilities may be substantially increased by combining it with effective radiosensitizing drugs. METHODS: This study explores the radiosensitizing properties of cisplatin when combined with 186Re-labeled hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (HEDP) in the treatment of R3327-MATLyLu prostate cancer cells in vitro. A concomitant incubation during 4 d, combining various concentrations of cisplatin (0, 0.42, 0.83 and 1.67 micromol/L) and 186Re-HEDP (0, 1.84 and 3.69 MBq/mL [0, 50 and 100 microCi/mL, respectively]) was followed by the determination of the cell numbers surviving and the replating of these cells in semisolid agar. RESULTS: The surviving fraction of clonogenic tumor cells after combination treatment clearly showed synergism when analyzed by a panel of three different published analytical methods. In addition, analysis of variance demonstrated a significant interaction between radionuclide therapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapy (P < 0.001). Treatment with 186Re-HEDP and cisplatin by sequential incubation yielded similar, but never superior results. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that radionuclide therapy in combination with cisplatin is able, in principle, to improve therapeutic success rate in metastatic prostate cancer in a more than additive way.  (+info)

Rhenium-186-labeled hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate dosimetry and dosing guidelines for the palliation of skeletal metastases from androgen-independent prostate cancer. (3/195)

Rhenium-186 (tin)-labeled hydroxyethylidene diphosphonate (186Re-labeled HEDP) was evaluated in 27 men with progressive androgen-independent prostate cancer and bone metastases. Administered activities ranged from 1251 to 4336 MBq (33.8-117.2 mCi). The primary objectives were to assess tumor targeting, normal organ dosimetry, and safety. Antitumor effects were assessed by posttherapy changes in prostate-specific antigen and, when present, palliation of pain. Whole-body kinetics, blood and kidney clearance, skeletal dose, marrow dose, and urinary excretion of the isotope were assessed. Targeting of skeletal disease was observed over the period of quantification (4-168 h). Radiation doses to whole body, bladder, and kidney were well tolerated. The dose-limiting toxicity was myelosuppression (grade III) at 4107 MBq (111 mCi) and grade II at 296 MBq (80 mCi). Probe clearance (whole body) and urinary excretion measurements were highly correlated. Of the six patients treated at the highest dosage schedules (three at 1510 MBq/m2 and three at 1665 MBq/m2), three showed a posttherapy decline in prostate-specific antigen of 50% or more. The declines were not sustained. The determination of total activity retained at 24 h, as well as an estimate of marrow dose, correlated with the amount of myelosuppression observed. These results suggest that a single 24-h measurement of retained activity would allow individualized dosing and an improved therapeutic index relative to fixed dosing schema. Repetitive dosing is required to increase palliation.  (+info)

A new experimental determination of the dose calibrator setting for 188Re. (4/195)

Accurate activity measurements of radionuclides using commercial dose calibrators requires that the correct dial setting (or calibration factor) be applied. The dose calibrator setting for the medical radionuclide 188Re (as 188ReO4-) has been determined experimentally using solution sources prepared and calibrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). METHODS: The specific activity of two sources (in units of MBq/g) in the standard 5-mL NIST ampoule and in a 5-mL SoloPak dose vial were calibrated using 4pibeta liquid scintillation counting with 3H-standard efficiency tracing and gamma-ray/bremmstrahlung counting in the NIST "4pi" gamma ionization chamber on gravimetrically related sources. RESULTS: The newly determined settings for the NIST Capintec CRC-12 dose calibrator are (631+/-4) x 10 and (621+/-3) x 10 for the respective ampoule and dose vial geometries with an expanded (at a presumed 95% confidence level) uncertainty of 0.4%-0.5% in the activity determination. The setting for the dose vial geometry was independently confirmed using a Capintec CRC-15R at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center using sources calibrated against a NIST standard. CONCLUSION: These new settings result in activity readings 28%-30% lower than those obtained using the previously recommended setting of 496 x 10. This discrepancy most likely results from underestimating the total radiation yield from 188Re decay when calculating the dose calibrator response. This study emphasizes the need for experimental determinations of dose calibrator settings in the geometry in which the measurements will be performed.  (+info)

Effects of intracoronary radiation on thrombosis after balloon overstretch injury in the porcine model. (5/195)

BACKGROUND: The main complications of PTCA remain thrombosis and restenosis. Recent studies have demonstrated reduction in the neointimal hyperplasia after intracoronary radiation (IR) with doses of 10 to 25 Gy of ionizing radiation delivered by either beta- or gamma-emitters to injured vessels. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of ionizing radiation on the thrombosis rate (TR) of injured porcine coronary arteries. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-four juvenile swine (63 coronary arteries) were subjected to overstretch balloon injury followed by IR with doses of 0 to 18 Gy of either beta- or gamma-radiation. Two weeks after treatment, tissue sections were perfusion-fixed, stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Verhoeff-van Gieson's stain, and analyzed for presence of a thrombus, thrombus morphology, and neointima formation by computer-assisted histomorphometry techniques. Although the overall TR increased dose-dependently from 0 to 18 Gy prescribed dose, luminal thrombi decreased. Thrombus area also decreased with increasing radiation dose, whether assessed at the prescription point or at the luminal surface, which corresponded to decreased intimal area. Furthermore, luminal thrombi present after IR tended to consist mostly of fibrin and thus were less organized than in controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that IR induces thrombosis but does not necessarily compromise the lumen. Strategies for reducing TR may further decrease intimal area as well as increasing the safety of this therapy.  (+info)

Radioimmunotherapy for the intensification of conditioning before stem cell transplantation: differences in dosimetry and biokinetics of 188Re- and 99mTc-labeled anti-NCA-95 MAbs. (6/195)

A new concept is the intensification of preparative regimens for patients with advanced leukemia using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) with an affinity for beta emitter-labeled bone marrow. 188Re is a high-energy beta emitter that has therapeutic promise. Our first aim was to clarify whether the therapeutic application of 188Re-MAb against nonspecific cross-reacting antigen 95 (NCA-95) can be predicted from biokinetic data derived from 99mTc-labeled NCA-95. Our second aim was to show that a radiation absorbed dose of > or =12 Gy in the bone marrow can be achieved using 188Re-MAb. METHODS: Dosimetric data were obtained for both radiotracers from multiple planar whole-body scans (double-head gamma camera), blood samples, and urine measurements from 12 patients with advanced leukemia. Radiation absorbed doses were calculated using MIRDOSE 3 software. RESULTS: Radiation absorbed doses to bone marrow, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney were 2.24, 0.50, 1.93, 0.05, and 0.90 mGy/MBq, respectively, using 99mTc-MAb and 1.45, 0.43, 1.32, 0.07, and 0.71 mGy/MBq, respectively, using 188Re-MAb. These differences were statistically significant for bone marrow, spleen, and kidney. The main differences were less accumulation of 188Re-MAb in bone marrow (31%+/-13% compared with 52%+/-13%) and faster elimination through urine (25%+/-3% compared with 15%+/-5% after 24 h). On the basis of these data, a mean marrow dose of 14+/-7 Gy was achieved in 12 patients suffering from leukemia after application of approximately 10+/-2 GBq 188Re-MAb. CONCLUSION: Myeloablative radiation absorbed doses can easily be achieved using 188Re-MAb. 99mTc- and 188Re-MAb showed similar whole-body distributions. However, direct prediction of radiation absorbed doses from the 99mTc-MAb, assuming identical biokinetic behavior, is not valid for the 188Re-MAb in a single patient. Therefore, individual dosimetry using 188Re-MAb is needed to calculate therapeutic activity.  (+info)

Noninvasive monitoring of gene transfer using a reporter receptor imaged with a high-affinity peptide radiolabeled with 99mTc or 188Re. (7/195)

Gene therapy protocols require better modalities to monitor the location and level of transferred gene expression. One potential in vivo mechanism to assess gene expression would be to image the binding of a radiolabeled peptide to a reporter receptor that is expressed in targeted tissues. This concept was tested in a tumor model using a replication-incompetent adenoviral vector encoding the human type 2 somatostatin receptor (Ad5-CMVhSSTr2). Expression of the hSSTr2 reporter was imaged using a radiolabeled, somatostatin-avid peptide (P829). METHODS: Bilateral subcutaneous A427 tumor xenografts were established on the flanks of athymic nude mice. These human-origin, non-small cell lung tumors are normally negative for hSSTr2 expression. One tumor was injected directly with Ad5-CMVhSSTr2, whereas the second tumor was injected directly with a control Ad5 vector. The mice were injected intravenously 48 h later with P829 peptide that was radiolabeled to high specific activity with 99mTc (half-life, 6 h) or 188Re (half-life, 17 h). Tumors were frozen and evaluated for somatostatin receptor expression using fluorescein-labeled somatostatin. RESULTS: The accumulation of radiolabeled P829 in hSSTr2-expressing tumors was easily visualized by gamma camera imaging 3 h after injection. Imaging region of interest analyses and biodistribution studies confirmed a 5- to 10-fold greater accumulation of both radiolabeled P829 peptides in the Ad5-CMVhSSTr2-injected tumors versus control tumors injected with control Ad5 vectors. Ad5-CMVhSSTr2-injected tumors accumulated 2.5-3.8 percentage injected dose per gram 3 h after injection. Only Ad5-CMVhSSTr2-injected tumors expressed somatostatin receptors, as determined by immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSION: These studies show the feasibility of imaging a 99mTc-labeled peptide's binding to a reporter receptor after in vivo gene transfer to tumor cells. The 188Re-labeled peptide worked equally well for this imaging approach and offers the additional advantage of energetic beta decay with potential therapeutic efficacy. 99mTc and 188Re are generator produced, an advantage for widespread availability and low cost, and both radioisotopes can be imaged with existing, high-resolution modalities. There is great potential for using 99mTc-labeled peptides for imaging gene transfer with the hSSTr2 reporter receptor, especially when the reporter correlates with the expression of therapeutic genes that can be included simultaneously in the gene therapy vector.  (+info)

Intracoronary beta-irradiation with a liquid (188)re-filled balloon: six-month results from a clinical safety and feasibility study. (8/195)

BACKGROUND: Coronary irradiation is a new concept to reduce restenosis. We evaluated the feasibility and safety of intracoronary irradiation with a balloon catheter filled with (188)Re, a liquid, high-energy beta-emitter. METHODS AND RESULTS: Irradiation with 15 Gy at 0.5-mm tissue depth was performed in 28 lesions after balloon dilation (n=9) or stenting (n=19). Lesions included 19 de novo stenoses, 4 occlusions, and 5 restenoses. Irradiation time was 515+/-199 seconds in 1 to 4 fractions. There were no procedural complications. One patient died of noncardiac causes at day 23. One asymptomatic patient refused 6-month angiography. Quantitative angiography after intervention showed a reference diameter of 2. 77+/-0.35 mm and a minimal lumen diameter of 2.36+/-0.43 mm. At 6-month follow-up, minimal lumen diameter was 1.45+/-0.88 mm (late loss index 0.57). Target lesion restenosis rate (>50% in diameter) was low (12%; 3 of 26). In addition, we observed 9 stenoses at the proximal or distal end of the irradiation zone, potentially caused by the short irradiation segment and the decreasing irradiation dose at its borders ("edge" stenoses). The total restenosis rate was 46% and was significantly lower (29% vs 70%, P=0.042) when the length of the irradiated segment was more than twice the lesion length. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary irradiation with a (188)Re-filled balloon is technically feasible and safe, requiring only standard percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty techniques. The target lesion restenosis rate was low. The observed edge stenoses appear to be avoidable by increasing the length of the irradiated segment.  (+info)