title: [¹¹C]Sorafenib: radiosynthesis and preclinical evaluation in tumor-bearing mice of a new TKI-PET tracer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) like sorafenib are important anticancer therapeutics with thus far limited treatment response rates in cancer patients. Positron emission tomography (PET) could provide the means for selection of patients who might benefit from TKI treatment, if suitable PET tracers would be available. The aim of this study was to radiolabel sorafenib (1) with carbon-11 and to evaluate its potential as TKI-PET tracer in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  Synthetic methods were developed in which sorafenib was labeled at two different positions, followed by a metabolite analysis in rats and a PET imaging study in tumor-bearing mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  [methyl-(11)C]-1 and [urea-(11)C]-1 were synthesized in yields of 59% and 53%, respectively, with a purity of >99%. The identity of the products was confirmed by coinjection on HPLC with reference sorafenib. In an in vivo metabolite analysis [(11)C]sorafenib proved to be stable. The percentage of intact product in blood-plasma after 45 min was 90% for [methyl-(11)C]-1 and 96% for [urea-(11)C]-1, respectively. Due to the more reliable synthesis, further research regarding PET imaging was performed with [methyl-(11)C]-1 in nude mice bearing FaDu (head and neck cancer), MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer) or RXF393 (renal cancer) xenografts. Highest tracer accumulation at a level of 2.52 ± 0.33%ID/g was observed in RXF393, a xenograft line extensively expressing the sorafenib target antigen Raf-1 as assessed by immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, we have synthesized [(11)C]sorafenib as PET tracer, which is stable in vivo and has the capability to be used as PET tracer for imaging in tumor-bearing mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. a.poot@vumc.nl
authors.forename: Alex J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Poot
authors.forename: Berend
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van der Wildt
authors.forename: Marijke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stigter-van Walsum
authors.forename: Marissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rongen
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Schuit
authors.forename: N Harry
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Hendrikse
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Guus A M S
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: van Dongen
authors.forename: Albert D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Windhorst
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D009536:Niacinamide / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf / Q000378:metabolism; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D011854:Radiochemistry; D051381:Rats; D000077157:Sorafenib
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D009536:Niacinamide; D000077157:Sorafenib; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf