Long-circulating theranostic agents for diagnosing and imaging metastatic tumors

Abstract

Theranostic agents useful for imaging and treating metastatic cancer are provided. The theranostic agents comprise a TMTP1 peptide conjugated to an albumin binding moiety to prolong circulation lifetime and a chelating agent to allow complexation of a diagnostic metal ion with the theranostic agent. The theranostic agent can be conjugated, for example, to a positron-emitting metal radionuclide suitable for PET imaging such as 64Cu, 68Ga, 44Sc, 86Y, 89Zr, or 82Rb; or a gamma-emitting metal radionuclide suitable for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging such as 67Ga, 99mTc, 111In, or 177Lu. Alternatively, theranostic agents can be conjugated with a paramagnetic metal ion suitable for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) such as manganese (e.g., Mn2+), iron (e.g., Fe3+, Fe2+) or gadolinium (e.g., Gd3+). Such theranostic agents show selective uptake by metastatic cancer cells and are useful for PET, SPECT, or MRI imaging of metastatic cells in vitro and in vivo.

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