A novel 99mTc hyaluronate probe for SPECT imaging of lung cancer -: feasibility study in an animal model

This study described a novel radioactive probe for SPECT imaging of lung cancer. The probe was consisted of Tc-99m labeled cartilage link protein (CLP). The CLP, a hyaluronate binding protein, was isolated from bovine nose cartilage and purified on a chromatography column. Tc-99m labeling was carried out by pre-treating CLP with SnCl2. The feasibility of this probe for lung cancer imaging was tested in vivo in an animal model. The hyaluronate probe showed a fairly good binding activity towards both natural and tumor hyaluronic acid in in vitro and in vivo assays. The preliminary feasibility study in a human lung cancer bearing mouse model showed that the probe might be useful for tumor imaging.