An In Vivo PET Imaging Technique to Detect Tumors in a Murine Model Using Radiolabeled Antibodies

In male athymic nude mice, subcutaneously implant 5 x 10⁶ LNCaP prostate cancer cells, allowing these to grow to a 100 to 150 millimeter-cubed xenograft. Three to four weeks after inoculation, the tumors should be ready.

For imaging, dilute the ⁸⁹Zr-DFO-J591 radio immunoconjugate to a concentration of 1 millicuries per milliliter in 0.9% sterile saline. Next, inject 200 microliters of the ⁸⁹Zr-DFO-J591 solution into the lateral tail vein of the xenograft-bearing mice.

At the desired imaging time point, anesthetize the mouse with a 2% isoflurane:oxygen gas mixture. Place the mouse on a small animal PET scanner bed. Verify anesthesia using the toe-pinch method, and apply veterinary ointment to the eyes of the mouse to prevent drying during anesthesia.

Maintain anesthesia during the scan using a 1% isoflurane:oxygen gas mixture. Following this, acquire the PET data for the mouse via static scan with a minimum of 40 million coincident events using an energy window of 350 to 700 kiloelectron volts and a coincidence timing window of six nanoseconds.