Preparation and biological evaluation of 3-[Br]bromo--methyl-L-tyrosine, a novel tyrosine analog for positron emission tomography imaging of tumors

Ohshima, Yasuhiro; Hanaoka, Hirofumi*; Watanabe, Shigeki; Sugo, Yumi; Watanabe, Satoshi; Tominaga, Hideyuki*; Oriuchi, Noboru*; Endo, Keigo*; Ishioka, Noriko

3-[F]fluoro--methyl-L-tyrosine ([F]FAMT) is a useful amino acid tracer for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of malignant tumors. FAMT analogs labeled with Br, a positron emitter with a long half-life (=16.1 h), could be widely used as tracers for tumor imaging. In this study, 3-[Br]bromo--methyl-L-tyrosine ([Br]BAMT) was designed, and its usefulness was evaluated as a novel PET tracer for imaging malignant tumors. In this study, both [Br]BAMT and [Br]BAMT were prepared. [Br]BAMT was stable in vitro, but was catabolized after administration in mice. Cellular accumulation and retention of [Br]BAMT using LS180 colon adenocarcinoma cells were significantly higher than those of [F]FAMT. In biodistribution studies using LS180 tumor-bearing mice, the tumor accumulation of [Br]BAMT was higher than that of [F]FAMT. However, some level of debromination was seen, and this debromination caused more retention of radioactivity in the blood and organs than was seen with [F]FAMT. PET imaging with [Br]BAMT enabled clear visualization of the tumor. In conclusion, although an improvement in stability is still needed, Br-labeled FAMT analogs could potentially serve as PET tracers for the imaging of malignant tumors.