Advantage of a residualizing iodine radiolabel for radioimmunotherapy of xenografts of human non-small-cell carcinoma of the lung.

Unlabelled: Attachment of 131I to MAbs through adducts such as dilactitol-tyramine (DLT), which remain lysosomally trapped after catabolism of the labeled MAb, can greatly increase the residence time of the radiolabel at the tumor site. Our previous studies demonstrated a marked increase in accretion of 131I in a human lung-cancer xenograft model, using 131I-DLT in comparison to 131I linked to MAb by the conventional chloramine-T methodology.

Methods: In this study, biodistribution experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of protein dose on the accretion of 131I-DLT-labeled MAb RS11 in tumor and nontumor tissues, and in vivo radioimmunotherapy experiments compared the effect of single injections of 131I-DLT-labeled MAb RS11 to conventional 131I-labeled RS11 and an untreated control group.

Results: Dosimetry calculations based on the biodistribution data indicate only small changes in absorbed dose-to-tumor and nontumor tissues with increasing protein dose up to 100 micrograms, with a predicted absorbed dose to tumor of from 21,000 to 25,000 cGy/mCi. A single dose of 100 microCi of 131I-DLT-RS11 was found to cause tumor regression. At 7 wk postinjection of the radiolabeled MAbs, tumor volume in 73% of the animals administered 131I-DLT-labeled RS11 remained smaller than at the time of MAb injection. This is compared to 14% of the tumors in the conventionally labeled 131I-RS11 group and none in the untreated group.

Conclusion: The use of the residualizing radiolabel DLT provides a therapeutic advantage in comparison to conventional 131I-labeled RS11.