Preparation and quality control of lutetium-177 bleomycin as a possible therapeutic agent

Due to interesting therapeutic properties of 177Lu and antineoblastic antibiotic, bleomycin (BLM), 177Lu-bleomycin (177Lu-BLM) was developed as a possible therapeutic compound. Lu-177 of 2.6-3 GBq/mg specific activity was obtained by irradiation of a natural Lu2O3 sample with a thermal neutron flux of 4 · 1013 n · cm-2 · s-1. The product was converted into chloride form which was further used for labeling of BLM. In optimized conditions a radiochemical purity of 98% was obtained for 177Lu-BLM shown by instant thin-layer chromatography (ITLC) (specific activity, 740 GBq/mmole). Biodistribution studies of Lu-177 chloride and 177Lu-BLM were performed in wild-type rats. The accumulation of the radiolabeled compound in lungs, liver and spleen demonstrates a pattern similar to the other radiolabeled bleomycins. Lu-BLM is a possible therapeutic agent in human malignancies and the efficacy of the compound should be tested in various tumor-bearing models. (authors)