18F-labeled resin microspheres as surrogates for 90Y resin microspheres used in the treatment of hepatic tumors: a radiolabeling and PET validation study

Abstract

90Y-labeled resin microspheres (SIR-Spheres®) are currently used to treat patients with primary and metastatic solid liver tumors. This treatment is typically palliative since patients have exhausted all other standard treatment options. Improving the quality of life and extending patient survival are typical benchmarks for tracking patient response. However, the current method for predicting microsphere biodistributions with 99mTc-labeled macroaggregated albumin (MAA) does not correlate well with patient response. This work presents the development of a new 18F-labeled resin microsphere to serve as a surrogate for the treatment microsphere and to employ the superior resolution and sensitivity of positron emission tomography (PET). The 18F microsphere biodistributions were determined in a rabbit using PET imaging and histological review. The PET-based uptake ratio was shown to agree with the histological findings to better than 3%. In addition, the radiolabeling process was shown to be rapid, efficient and relatively stable in vivo.