An imaging target TGF-β1 for hepatocellular carcinoma in mice.

It has been reported that the positive detection rate of Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) metabolism in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is only about 50%. In particular, 18F-FDG PET imaging is prone to false negative findings in HCC. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) shows over expression rates in early HCC liver tissue growth and promotes tumor invasion and metastases. Our aim was to use In this study, we used the feasibility of iodine-125 (125I)-labeled TGF-β1 antibody as a nuclear medicine imaging target in HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS The TGF-β1 antibody was obtained from Bioss Inc. The Huh-7 cell line (Liver Cancer Institute, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University) is a HCC cell line with high metastatic potential. Each mouse was subcutaneously injected with 5×106/0.1mL Huh-7 cells in the right upper flank region for the establishment of a subcutaneous xenograft model. The Iodogen method was used to label TGF-β1 antibody with 125I. In this experiment, 100μL of 125I- TGF-β1 antibody solution, which contained approximately 18,5MBq of 125I-liraglutide, was injected into the tail veins of each of three nude mice with Huh-7 HCC. Micro SPET/CT imaging was performed for each mouse using a nano SPET/CT. RESULTS The average percentage of injected dose per gram of tissue (ID%) was 1,3% and 2,4%. The tumor was strongly positive for TGF-β1. CONCLUSION This pilot study provides an experimental basis for further exploration of the feasibility of TGF-β1 receptor as a target in HCC imaging and in other cancers.