RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 68Ga-THP-PSMA: A PET Imaging Agent for Prostate Cancer Offering Rapid, Room-Temperature, 1-Step Kit-Based Radiolabeling JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 1270 OP 1277 DO 10.2967/jnumed.117.191882 VO 58 IS 8 A1 Jennifer D. Young A1 Vincenzo Abbate A1 Cinzia Imberti A1 Levente K. Meszaros A1 Michelle T. Ma A1 Samantha Y.A. Terry A1 Robert C. Hider A1 Greg E. Mullen A1 Philip J. Blower YR 2017 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/58/8/1270.abstract AB The clinical impact and accessibility of 68Ga tracers for the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and other targets would be greatly enhanced by the availability of a simple, 1-step kit-based labeling process. Radiopharmacy staff are accustomed to such procedures in the daily preparation of 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals. Currently, chelating agents used in 68Ga radiopharmaceuticals do not meet this ideal. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate preclinically a 68Ga radiotracer for imaging PSMA expression that could be radiolabeled simply by addition of 68Ga generator eluate to a cold kit. Methods: A conjugate of a tris(hydroxypyridinone) (THP) chelator with the established urea-based PSMA inhibitor was synthesized and radiolabeled with 68Ga by adding generator eluate directly to a vial containing the cold precursors THP-PSMA and sodium bicarbonate, with no further manipulation. It was analyzed after 5 min by instant thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The product was subjected to in vitro studies to determine PSMA affinity using PSMA-expressing DU145-PSMA cells, with their nonexpressing analog DU145 as a control. In vivo PET imaging and ex vivo biodistribution studies were performed in mice bearing xenografts of the same cell lines, comparing 68Ga-THP-PSMA with 68Ga-HBED-CC-PSMA. Results: Radiolabeling was complete (>95%) within 5 min at room temperature, showing a single radioactive species by high-performance liquid chromatography that was stable in human serum for more than 6 h and showed specific binding to PSMA-expressing cells (concentration giving 50% inhibition of 361 ± 60 nM). In vivo PET imaging showed specific uptake in PSMA-expressing tumors, reaching 5.6 ± 1.2 percentage injected dose per cubic centimeter at 40–60 min and rapid clearance from blood to kidney and bladder. The tumor uptake, biodistribution, and pharmacokinetics were not significantly different from those of 68Ga-HBED-CC-PSMA except for reduced uptake in the spleen. Conclusion: 68Ga-THP-PSMA has equivalent imaging properties but greatly simplified radiolabeling compared with other 68Ga-PSMA conjugates. THP offers the prospect of rapid, simple, 1-step, room-temperature syringe-and-vial radiolabeling of 68Ga radiopharmaceuticals.