Targeted radiotherapy of pigmented melanoma with 131I-5-IPN

Combined Melanin-Targeted Radionuclide Therapy and Immunotherapy in Pigmented Advanced Malignant Melanoma

The benzamide analogue 131I-N-(2-(diethylamino)ethyl)-5-(iodo-131I) picolinamide (131I-5-IPN) was developed for targeted radionuclide therapy (TRNT) of pigmented melanoma and showed good pharmacokinetics and a high melanin-binding affinity. Our aim was to investigate the antitumor efficacy of 131I-5-IPN alone and in combination with immunotherapy in pigmented advanced malignant melanoma. 131I-5-IPN was synthesized and purified. Pigmented (B16F10) and nonpigmented (A375m) melanoma cell lines were used to assess binding in vitro and to establish mouse melanoma models. Static 131I-5-IPN SPECT/CT imaging was performed in tumor-bearing subcutaneous and lung metastasis model mice. B16F10-bearing subcutaneous and lung metastasis mouse models were treated with 131I-5-IPN TRNT alone or 131I-5-IPN in combination with anti-PD-L1 antibody. The tumor volume, mice weight, and survival time were recorded. The tumors were harvested and analyzed by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. 131I-5-IPN was successfully synthesized with a high radiochemical yield of 60-70%, demonstrating high affinity and specificity for B16F10 cells both in vitro and in vivo. Pronounced accumulation of 131I-5-IPN in B16F10 subcutaneous tumors and lung metastases was confirmed in the biodistribution study, with high tumor-to-muscle ratios reaching 45.91 ± 21.17 and 55.99 ± 21.08 at 24 and 48 h, respectively. B16F10 subcutaneous tumor growth was significantly reduced in mice treated with 131I-5-IPN TRNT alone or 131I-5-IPN combined with anti-PD-L1 antibody; both groups showed extended median survival compared with control mice. For lung metastases treatment, mice treated with 131I-5-IPN TRNT alone or TRNT combined with anti-PD-L1 group had a significantly extended median survival time (22 and 31 d, respectively) compared with control group mice (15 d) (p < 0.001). No significant histopathological evidence of hepatic or kidney injury was observed during treatment. 131I-5-IPN specifically targeted melanin with a high retention and affinity in vitro and in vivo. The 131I-5-IPN TRNT combination with anti-PD-L1 antibody maybe a potential new therapy for pigmented advanced malignant melanoma.

Development of 99mTc-labeled melanin-targeted probes for SPECT imaging of melanoma

PURPOSE

Melanoma is a highly aggressive skin cancer with poor prognosis, highlighting the need for early detection. This study aims to develop a 99mTc-labeled single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) probe targeting melanin to improve melanoma detection with enhanced specificity and cost-effectiveness.

METHODS

Six potential 99mTc-labeled probes were synthesized by conjugating small molecules with nitrogen-rich fatty chains or cyclic structures to 99mTc. These 99mTc-complexes were then assessed in vitro for their lipid-water partition coefficient, radiochemical stability, and cellular uptake. In vivo studies included biodistribution, SPECT/CT imaging, pharmacokinetics, stability and biocompatibility studies were conducted in various mouse models.

RESULTS

These six probes exhibited high radiolabeling yields (> 95%) and radiochemical purities (> 95%). In vitro cell uptake and blocking experiments demonstrated their binding capability and specificity for melanin. Among these probes, 99mTc-SMIC-4006 displayed the highest tumor uptake (5.18 ± 1.55%ID/g at 1 h) and significantly higher uptake in B16F10 xenografts compared to non-melanotic A375 xenografts (p < 0.01). The initial tumor-to-blood ratio for 99mTc-SMIC-4006 was 4.30 ± 0.63 at 1 h, increasing to 10.27 ± 5.13 at 6 h. Importantly, SPECT/CT imaging of 99mTc-SMIC-4006 clearly delineated B16F10 tumor regions with high contrast, while A375 xenografts showed minimal uptake.

CONCLUSION

99mTc-SMIC-4006 is a promising SPECT probe for melanoma imaging, offering high tumor specificity, excellent uptake, and ideal tumor-to-background contrast, with strong potential for clinical application.

Melanin-Targeting Radiotracers and Their Preclinical, Translational, and Clinical Status: From Past to Future

Melanin is one of the representative biomarkers of malignant melanoma and a potential target for diagnosis and therapy. With advancements in chemistry and radiolabeling technologies, promising strides have been made to synthesize radiolabeled melanin-binding molecules for various applications. We present an overview of melanin-targeted radiolabeled molecules and compare their features reported in preclinical studies. Clinical practice and trials are also discussed to elaborate on the safety and validity of the probes, and expanded applications beyond melanoma are reviewed. Melanin-targeted imaging holds potential value in the diagnosis, staging, and prognostic assessment of melanoma and other applications. Melanin-targeted radionuclide therapy possesses immense potential but requires more clinical validation. Furthermore, an intriguing avenue for future research involves expanding the application scope of melanin-targeted probes and exploring their value.

Clinical Advances and Perspectives in Targeted Radionuclide Therapy

Targeted radionuclide therapy has become increasingly prominent as a nuclear medicine subspecialty. For many decades, treatment with radionuclides has been mainly restricted to the use of iodine-131 in thyroid disorders. Currently, radiopharmaceuticals, consisting of a radionuclide coupled to a vector that binds to a desired biological target with high specificity, are being developed. The objective is to be as selective as possible at the tumor level, while limiting the dose received at the healthy tissue level. In recent years, a better understanding of molecular mechanisms of cancer, as well as the appearance of innovative targeting agents (antibodies, peptides, and small molecules) and the availability of new radioisotopes, have enabled considerable advances in the field of vectorized internal radiotherapy with a better therapeutic efficacy, radiation safety and personalized treatments. For instance, targeting the tumor microenvironment, instead of the cancer cells, now appears particularly attractive. Several radiopharmaceuticals for therapeutic targeting have shown clinical value in several types of tumors and have been or will soon be approved and authorized for clinical use. Following their clinical and commercial success, research in that domain is particularly growing, with the clinical pipeline appearing as a promising target. This review aims to provide an overview of current research on targeting radionuclide therapy.

18F-PFPN PET: A New and Attractive Imaging Modality for Patients with Malignant Melanoma

18F-FDG PET has limited diagnostic applications in malignant melanoma (MM). 18F-N-(2-(diethylamino)ethyl)-5-(2-(2-(2-fluoroethoxy)ethoxy)ethoxy)picolinamide (18F-PFPN) is a novel PET probe with high affinity and selectivity for melanin. We conducted a clinical study with 2 aims, first to investigate the biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of 18F-PFPN in healthy volunteers, and second, to examine the diagnostic utility of 18F-PFPN PET imaging in patients with MM. Methods: 18F-PFPN was synthesized through a fluoro-for-tosyl exchange reaction. Five healthy volunteers were enrolled to investigate the biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, radiation dosimetry, and safety of the tracer. Subsequently, a total of 21 patients with clinically suspected or confirmed MM underwent both 18F-PFPN PET/MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT scans. The normalized SUVmax of selected lesions was determined for both tracers and compared in patient- and lesion-based analyses. Results: 18F-PFPN has an elevated radiochemical yield and was highly stable in vivo. In healthy volunteers, 18F-PFPN was safe and well tolerated, and its effective absorbed dose was comparable to that of 18F-FDG. In patient-based analysis, 18F-PFPN uptake was higher than 18F-FDG for both primary tumors and nodal metastases. In lesion-based analysis,18F-PFPN PET imaging could detect 365 metastases that were missed on 18F-FDG PET. Additionally, 18F-PFPN PET imaging had clinical value in distinguishing false-positive lesions on 18F-FDG PET. Conclusion: 18F-PFPN is a safe and well-tolerated melanin PET tracer. In a pilot clinical study, 18F-PFPN PET imaging outperformed traditional 18F-FDG PET in identifying both primary MM and its distant spread.

Targeting Melanin in Melanoma with Radionuclide Therapy

Nearly 100,000 individuals are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma in the United States in 2022. Treatment options for late-stage metastatic disease up until the 2010s were few and offered only slight improvement to the overall survival. The introduction of B-RAF inhibitors and anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapies into standard of care brought measurable increases in the overall survival across all stages of melanoma. Despite the improvement in the survival statistics, patients treated with targeted therapies and immunotherapies are subject to very serious side effects, the development of drug resistance, and the high costs of treatment. This leaves room for the development of novel approaches as well as for the exploration of novel combination therapies for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. One such approach is targeting melanin pigment with radionuclide therapy. Advances in melanin-targeting radionuclide therapy of melanoma can be viewed from two spheres: (1) radioimmunotherapy (RIT) and (2) radiolabeled small molecules. The investigation of mechanisms of the action and efficacy of targeting melanin in melanoma treatment by RIT points to the involvement of the immune system such as complement dependent cytotoxicity. The combination of RIT with immunotherapy presents synergistic killing in mouse melanoma models. The field of radiolabeled small molecules is focused on radioiodinated compounds that have the ability to cross the cellular membranes to access intracellular melanin and can be applied in both therapy and imaging as theranostics. Clinical applications of targeting melanin with radionuclide therapies have produced encouraging results and clinical work is on-going. Continued work on targeting melanin with radionuclide therapy as a monotherapy, or possibly in combination with standard of care agents, has the potential to strengthen the current treatment options for melanoma patients.

Legumain-mediated self-assembly of 131I-labelled agent for targeted radiotherapy of tumor

Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) has been a promising strategy for cancer therapy, which can inhibit or kill cancer cells by selectively delivering radionuclide to target tissues. Herein, a legumain-targeted therapeutic...

Synthesis and Preliminary Evaluation of 131I-Labeled FAPI Tracers for Cancer Theranostics

As an excellent target for cancer theranostics, fibroblast activation protein (FAP) has become an attractive focus in cancer research. A class of FAP inhibitors (FAPIs) with a N-(4-quinolinoyl)-Gly-(2-cyanopyrrolidine) scaffold were developed, which displayed nanomolar affinity and high selectivity. Compared with ⁹⁰Y, ¹⁷⁷Lu, ²²⁵Ac, and ¹⁸⁸Re, ²¹¹At seems to be more favored as a therapeutic candidate for FAPI tracers which have fast washout and short retention in tumor sites. Thus, the current study reported the synthesis of two FAPI precursors for ²¹¹At and ¹³¹I labeling and the preliminary evaluation of ¹³¹I-labeled FAPI analogues for cancer theranostics. FAPI variants with stannyl precursors were successfully synthesized and labeled with ¹³¹I using a radioiododestannylation reaction. Two radioactive tracers were obtained with high radiochemical purity over 99% and good radiochemical yields of 58.2 ± 1.78 and 59.5 ± 4.44% for ¹³¹I-FAPI-02 and ¹³¹I-FAPI-04, respectively. Both tracers showed high specific binding to U87MG cells in comparison with little binding to MCF-7 cells. Compared to ¹³¹I-FAPI-02, ¹³¹I-FAPI-04 exhibited higher affinity, more intracellular uptake, and longer retention time in vitro. Biodistribution studies revealed that both tracers were mainly excreted through the kidneys as well as the hepatobiliary pathway due to their high lipophilicity. In addition, higher accumulation, longer dwell time, and increased tumor-to-organ ratios were achieved by ¹³¹I-FAPI-04, which was clearly demonstrated by SPECT/CT imaging. Furthermore, intratumor injection of ¹³¹I-FAPI-04 significantly suppressed the tumor growth in U87MG xenograft mice without significant toxicity observed. The above results implied that FAP-targeted alpha endoradiotherapy (specific to ²¹¹At) should be used to treat tumors in the near future, considering the chemical similarity between iodine and astatine can ensure the labeling of the latter onto the designed FAPIs.

Benzamide derivative radiotracers targeting melanin for melanoma imaging and therapy: Preclinical/clinical development and combination with other treatments

Cutaneous melanoma arises from proliferating melanocytes, cells specialized in the production of melanin. This property means melanin can be considered as a target for monitoring melanoma patients using nuclear imaging or targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT). Since the 1970s, many researchers have shown that specific molecules can interfere with melanin. This paper reviews some such molecules: benzamide structures improved to increase their pharmacokinetics for imaging or TRT. We first describe the characteristics and biosynthesis of melanin, and the main features of melanin tracers. The second part summarizes the preclinical and corresponding clinical studies on imaging. The last section presents TRT results from ongoing protocols and discusses combinations with other therapies as an opportunity for melanoma non-responders or patients resistant to treatments.

Evaluation of Radioiodinated Fluoronicotinamide/Fluoropicolinamide-Benzamide Derivatives as Theranostic Agents for Melanoma

Malignant melanoma is the most harmful type of skin cancer and its incidence has increased in this past decade. Early diagnosis and treatment are urgently desired. In this study, we conjugated picolinamide/nicotinamide with the pharmacophore of ¹³¹I-MIP-1145 to develop ¹³¹I-iodofluoropicolinamide benzamide (¹³¹I-IFPABZA) and ¹³¹I-iodofluoronicotiamide benzamide (¹³¹I-IFNABZA) with acceptable radiochemical yield (40 ± 5%) and high radiochemical purity (>98%). We also presented their biological characteristics in melanoma-bearing mouse models. ¹³¹I-IFPABZA (Log P = 2.01) was more lipophilic than ¹³¹I-IFNABZA (Log P = 1.49). B16F10-bearing mice injected with ¹³¹I-IFNABZA exhibited higher tumor-to-muscle ratio (T/M) than those administered with ¹³¹I-IFPABZA in planar γ-imaging and biodistribution studies. However, the imaging of ¹³¹I-IFNABZA- and ¹³¹I-IFPABZA-injected mice only showed marginal tumor uptake in A375 amelanotic melanoma-bearing mice throughout the experiment period, indicating the high binding affinity of these two radiotracers to melanin. Comparing the radiation-absorbed dose of ¹³¹I-IFNABZA with the melanin-targeted agents reported in the literature, ¹³¹I-IFNABZA exerts lower doses to normal tissues on the basis of similar tumor dose. Based on the in vitro and in vivo studies, we clearly demonstrated the potential of using ¹³¹I-IFNABZA as a theranostic agent against melanoma.

Microscale Thermophoresis as a Screening Tool to Predict Melanin Binding of Drugs

Interactions between drugs and melanin pigment may have major impacts on pharmacokinetics. Therefore, melanin binding can modify the efficacy and toxicity of medications in ophthalmic and other disease of pigmented tissues, such as melanoma. As melanin is present in many pigmented tissues in the human body, investigation of pigment binding is relevant in drug discovery and development. Conventionally, melanin binding assays have been performed using an equilibrium binding study followed by chemical analytics, such as LC/MS. This approach is laborious, relatively slow, and limited to facilities with high performance quantitation instrumentation. We present here a screening of melanin binding with label-free microscale thermophoresis (MST) that utilizes the natural autofluorescence of melanin. We determined equilibrium dissociation constants (K_d) of 11 model compounds with melanin nanoparticles. MST categorized the compounds into extreme (chloroquine, penicillin G), high (papaverine, levofloxacin, terazosin), intermediate (timolol, nadolol, quinidine, propranolol), and low melanin binders (atropine, methotrexate, diclofenac) and displayed good correlation with binding parameter values obtained with the conventional binding study and LC/MS analytics. Further, correlation was seen between predicted melanin binding in human retinal pigment epithelium and choroid (RPE-choroid) and K_d values obtained with MST. This method represents a useful and fast approach for classification of compounds regarding melanin binding. Thus, the method can be utilized in various fields, including drug discovery, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology.

Comparison of Al18F- and 68Ga-labeled NOTA-PEG4-LLP2A for PET imaging of very late antigen-4 in melanoma

Malignant melanoma is an aggressive cancer with poor prognosis. Very late antigen-4 (VLA-4) is overexpressed in melanoma and many other tumors, making it an attractive target for developing molecular diagnostic and therapeutic agents. We compared Al18F- and 68Ga-labeled LLP2A peptides for PET imaging of VLA-4 expression in melanoma. The peptidomimetic ligand LLP2A was modified with chelator 2-S-(4-isothiocyanatobenzyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triacetic acid (p-SCN-Bn-NOTA), and the resulting NOTA-PEG4-LLP2A peptide was then radiolabeled with Al18F or 68Ga. The two labeled peptides were assayed for in vitro and in vivo VLA-4 targeting efficiency. Good Al18F and 68Ga radiolabeling yields were achieved, and the resulting PET tracers showed good serum stability. In the in vivo evaluation of the B16F10 xenograft mouse model, both tracers exhibited high accumulation with good contrast in static PET images. Compared with 68Ga-NOTA-PEG4-LLP2A, Al18F-NOTA-PEG4-LLP2A resulted in relatively higher background, including higher liver uptake (1 h: 20.1 ± 2.6 vs. 15.3 ± 1.7%ID/g, P < 0.05; 2 h: 11.0 ± 1.2 vs. 8.0 ± 0.8%ID/g, P < 0.05) and lower tumor-to-blood ratios (2.5 ± 0.4 vs. 3.3 ± 0.5 at 1 h, P < 0.05; 5.1 ± 0.9 vs. 7.3 ± 0.6 at 2 h, P < 0.01) at some time points. The results obtained from the mice blocked with unlabeled peptides and VLA-4-negative A375 xenografts groups confirmed the high specificity of the developed tracers. Despite the relatively high liver uptake, both Al18F-NOTA-PEG4-LLP2A and 68Ga-NOTA-PEG4-LLP2A exhibited high VLA-4 targeting efficacy with comparable in vivo performance, rendering them promising candidates for imaging tumors that overexpress VLA-4.

Correction to: Targeted radiotherapy of pigmented melanoma with 131I-5-IPN

AbstractIn the publication of this article [1], there is an error in affiliation 1. The revised affiliation has now been included in this correction.