Design and Preclinical Evaluation of a 99m Tc-labelled Diabody of Mab J591 for SPECT Imaging of Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)

Sensitive and specific detection of nodal status, sites of metastases and low-volume recurrent disease could greatly improve management of patients with advanced prostate cancer. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a well-established marker for prostate carcinoma with increased levels of expression in high-grade, hormone-refractory and metastatic disease. The monoclonal antibody (mAb) J591 is directed against an extracellular epitope of PSMA and has been shown to efficiently target disseminated disease including metastases in lymph nodes and bone. Its use as a diagnostic imaging agent however is limited due to its slow pharmacokinetics. In this study a diabody derived from mAb J591 was developed as a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) tracer with improved pharmacokinetics for the detection of PSMA expression in prostate cancer.