Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Radioligand Therapy Using <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T and <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 in Patients with Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Comparison of Safety, Biodistribution, and Dosimetry
Christiane Schuchardt, Jingjing Zhang, Harshad Kulkarni, Xiaoyuan Chen, Dirk Müller, Richard P. Baum
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the safety, kinetics and dosimetry of <sup>177</sup>Lu labeled prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) small molecules <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-I&T and <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 in a large cohort of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) undergoing PSMA radioligand therapy (PRLT). <b>Methods:</b> A total of 138 patients (mean age, 70±9 y; age range 46-90 y) with progressive mCRPC and PSMA expression verified by <sup>68</sup>Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT underwent PRLT. 51 patients received 6.1±1.0 GBq (range, 3.4-7.6 GBq) <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T and 87 patients received 6.5±1.1 GBq (range, 3.5-9.0 GBq) <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617. Dosimetry was performed in all patients on the identical protocol. The mean absorbed doses were estimated with OLINDA software (MIRD Scheme). Treatment-related adverse events were graded according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), version 5.0. <b>Results:</b> The whole-body half-lives were shorter for <sup>177</sup>Lu PSMA I&T (35 h) as compared to <sup>177</sup>Lu PSMA-617 (42 h). The mean whole-body dose of <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 was higher as compared to <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-I&T (0.04 Gy/GBq vs. 0.03 Gy/GBq, p<0.00001). Despite the longer half-life of <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617, the renal dose of <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 was lower than for <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-I&T (0.77 Gy/GBq vs 0.92 Gy/GBq, <i>P</i> = 0.0015). Both PSMA small molecules demonstrated a comparable dose to parotid glands (0.5 Gy/GBq, <i>P</i> = 0.27). Among all normal organs, lacrimal glands exhibited the highest mean absorbed dose of 5.1 Gy/GBq and 3.7 Gy/GBq for <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 and <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T, respectively. All tumor metastases exhibited a higher initial uptake when using <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T, as well as shorter tumor half-life as compared to <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 (p<0.00001). The mean absorbed tumor doses were comparable for both <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T and <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 (5.8 Gy/GBq vs. 5.9 Gy/GBq, <i>P</i> = 0.96). All patients tolerated the therapy without any acute adverse effects. There was a small, statistically significant reduction in hemoglobin, leukocyte counts and platelet counts after <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 and <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T which did not need any clinical intervention. No nephrotoxicity was observed after either <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T or <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 PRLT. <b>Conclusion:</b> Both <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T and <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 PRLT demonstrated favorable safety in mCRPC patients. Highest absorbed dose amongst healthy organs were observed for the lacrimal and parotid glands, however, not resulting in any significant clinical sequel. <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617 demonstrated higher whole-body and lacrimal glands absorbed dose, but lower renal doses as compared to <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-I&T. The mean absorbed tumor doses were comparable for both <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA I&T and <sup>177</sup>Lu-PSMA-617. There was a large inter-patient variability of the dosimetry parameters. Therefore, individual patient-based dosimetry seems favorable for personalized PRLT.