Radiochemical synthesis, rodent biodistribution and tumor uptake, and dosimetry calculations of [¹¹C] methylated LY2181308

Purpose: The aim of the study was to develop a rapid and reproducible method to label LY2181308, an antisense oligonucleotide to Survivin, with carbon-11 in order to study its in vivo biodistribution and tumor uptake in rodents and its human dosimetry based on baboon data. Methods: Randomly [ ¹¹C] methylated LY2181308 was produced with [¹¹C] methyl iodide. The biodistribution was performed in female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and EMT-6 tumor-bearing mice in the presence of nonradioactive LY2181308. Human dosimetry calculations were based on baboon PET studies. Results: In SD rats, the kidney and liver were the organs with the most accumulation of radioactivity. Tumor uptake in mice was also relatively high after 5 min and remained constant for up to 1 h. Baboon dosimetry suggested that up to 42 mCi of radioactivity could be administered to human with a dose-limiting organ being the kidneys with a radiation dose of 32 μGy/MBq (0.118 rad/mCi). Conclusions: [¹¹C] Methylated LY2181308 to rodents and baboons showed its biodistribution, tumor uptake, and human dosimetry evaluation. These results should facilitate the understanding of the pharmacokinetics of LY2181308 prior to use as a potential new therapeutic agent in oncology as well as to warrant more in vivo validations as a potentially useful tumor-imaging agent.