Apr 4 2024Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging A new radiotheranostic system has the ability to detect and treat ovarian cancer noninvasively, according to new research published in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Combining the highly specific huAR9.6 antibody with PET and therapeutic radionuclides, this theranostic platform may provide more personalized treatment to improve health outcomes for ovarian cancer patients.
Current serum-based biomarkers do not sufficiently detect all occurrences of early-stage ovarian cancer. Therefore, there is a critical need for both additional detection methods and new targeted therapies that can improve patient survival." Studies have shown that the MUC16 protein is overexpressed in ovarian cancer patients, with elevated levels correlating with disease stage and tumor volume. The antibody huAR9.6 binds to a unique epitope that is influenced by truncated carbohydrate residues on MUC16. Thus, the authors noted, MUC16 could be a potential target for tumor detection via immuno-PET imaging and treatment with radioimmunotherapy.
Related StoriesMUC16 proteins were successfully detected via immuno-PET imaging with 89Zr-DFO-huAR9.6. In vivo studies showed that 89Zr-DFO-huAR9.6 could effectively specify varying levels of MUC16 expression in ovarian cancer mouse models. Radioimmunotherapy studies with 177Lu-CHX-A″-DTPA-huAR9.6 demonstrated improved overall survival and strong antitumor responses in highly MUC16-expressing models.