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We herein report a comparison of the radiolabels 177Lu and 125I bound to the monoclonal antibody HH1 that targets the CD37 antigen expressed on non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas.Mixtures of 177Lu and 125I-labeled HH1 antibody were co-injected into nude mice carrying Ramos xenografts and the biodistribution using the paired label format allowing tracer comparisons in each individual mouse.Products of the two radionuclides had very similar immunoractivity in vitro but showed different properties in vivo. Both products had relevant stability in blood and most normal tissues in nude mice carrying subcutaneous Ramos xenografts. However, both the tumor uptake and retention were significantly higher for 177Lu vs. 125I labeled HH1. The tumor to normal tissue ratios were several-fold improved for 177Lu compared to radioiodine labeled antibodies.The data presented herein support the evaluation of CD37 as a target for clinical 177Lu-based radioimmunotherapy against b-cell malignancies.

The monoclonal antibody against CD20, rituximab, alone, or as part of combination therapies, is standard therapy for non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma. Despite significantly better clinical results obtained for beta-emitting radioimmunoconjugates (RICs), RICs targeting CD20 are not commonly used in medical practice, partly because of competition for the CD20 target. Therefore, novel therapeutic approaches against other antigens are intriguing. Here, the binding properties of a novel antibody against CD37 (tetulomab) were compared with those of rituximab. The therapeutic effect of (177)Lu-tetulomab was compared with (177)Lu-rituximab on Daudi cells in vitro. The biodistribution, therapeutic and toxic effects of (177)Lu-tetulomab and unlabeled tetulomab were determined in SCID mice injected with Daudi cells. The affinity of tetulomab to CD37 was similar to the affinity of rituximab to CD20, but the CD37-tetulomab complex was internalized 10-times faster than the CD20-rituximab complex. At the same concentration of antibody, (177)Lu-tetulomab was significantly more efficient in inhibiting cell growth than was (177)Lu-rituximab, even though the cell-bound activity of (177)Lu-rituximab was higher. Treatment with 50 and 100 MBq/kg (177)Lu-tetulomab resulted in significantly increased survival of mice, compared with control groups treated with tetulomab or saline. The CD37 epitope recognized by tetulomab was highly expressed in 216 out of 217 tumor biopsies from patients with B-cell lymphoma. This work warrants further pre-clinical and clinical studies of (177)Lu-tetulomab.

A better understanding of the non-targeted (bystander) effects of radiation may have important implications with regards to radiation risk assessment, radiation protection, and targeted cancer therapy. In the present study, the direct and bystander effects of α-particle irradiation in immortalized human fibroblasts (F11hTERT) and breast cancer cells (MCF-7) was investigated. To ensure a more accurate dose delivery to these different cell lines, an existing 238Pu α-particle irradiator was improved by the addition of a collimator and the development of an analytical equation for calculation of the radiation dose to cells. The mean dose rate and α-particle fluence were calculated for each cell line by taking into consideration the size of their nuclei. Bystander effect experiments were performed by transferring medium from irradiated to unirradiated cells and by measuring micronucleus formation in the cells. Both the immortalized human fibroblasts and the breast cancer cells displayed a bystander effect. In conclusion, the broad-beam α-particle irradiator improved in this study represents a useful tool in the investigation of direct and non-targeted effects of α-particle radiation.