SNMMI ’21: Preclinical Trials Show Promise for Ovarian Cancer Radiopharmaceutical Treatment

Research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2021 Annual Meeting of a new radiopharmaceutical to treat ovarian cancer showed successful results, dramatically limiting tumor growth and decreasing tumor mass. The new radiopharmaceutical can be produced in 25 minutes at low cost, which leads to better efficiency compared with alternative methods.

In the study, researchers utilized a new generator system to develop the targeted alpha-therapy Pb-214-TCMC-trastuzumab to treat HER2-postive ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer cells and mice bearing ovarian cancer tumors were split into three groups: those treated with Pb-214-TCMC-trastuzumab, those treated with Pb-214-TCMC-IgG and an untreated control group. All groups were imaged over time to determine the effectiveness of the treatment.

Compared to the Pb-214-TCMC-IgG and control groups, the tumor signal for mice and cells treated with Pb-214-TCMC-trastuzumab decreased dramatically over the course of the study, signaling the efficacy of the therapy. There were no adverse side effects from the treatment as determined by weight loss of all animals surviving.

“The short 27-minute half-life of Pb-214 is ideal for fractioned alpha particle therapeutic applications,” stated Mike Zamiara, study author and president of Niowave Inc. in East Lansing, Michigan. “The generator system can provide Pb-214 every hour, potentially providing a new source of alpha particle therapy to patients at lower cost. In the future, the generator system will be available for many therapeutic products in a turn-key system under development, providing reliable doses for improved patient care.”