Synthesis of the PET Tracer 124I-Trametinib for MAPK/ERK Kinase Distribution and Resistance Monitoring.

Trametinib is an extremely potent allosteric inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) (MEK) 1/2, which has been approved for treatment of metastatic melanoma and anaplastic thyroid cancer in patients with confirmed BRAFV600E/K mutations. Though trametinib is highly efficacious, adverse side effects, including skin, gastrointestinal, and hepatic toxicity, are dose-limiting and can lead to treatment termination. Development of a noninvasive tool to visualize and quantify the delivery and distribution of trametinib (either as a single agent or in combination with other therapeutics) to tumors and organs would be helpful in assessing therapeutic index, personalizing individual dose, and potentially predicting resistance to therapy.
Methods: To address these issues, we have developed a radiolabeled trametinib and evaluated the in vitro and in vivo properties. 123I-, 124I-, and 131I-trametinib, pure tracer analogs to trametinib, were synthesized in more than 95% purity, with an average yield of 69.7% and more than 100 GBq/μmol specific activity.
Results: Overall, 124I-trametinib uptake in a panel of cancer cell lines can be blocked with cold trametinib, confirming specificity of the radiotracer in vitro and in vivo. 124I-trametinib was taken up at higher rates in KRAS and BRAF mutant cell lines than in wild-type KRAS cancer cell lines. In vivo, biodistribution revealed high uptake in the liver 2 h after injection, followed by clearance through the gastrointestinal tract over 4 d. Importantly, uptake higher than expected was observed in the lung and heart for up to 24 h. Peak uptake in the skin and gastrointestinal tract was observed between 6 and 24 h, whereas in B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice peak tumor concentrations were achieved between 24 and 48 h. Tumor uptake relative to muscle and skin was relatively low, peaking at 3.4- to 8.1-fold by 72 h, respectively. The biodistribution of 124I-trametinib was significantly reduced in mice on trametinib therapy, providing a quantitative method to observe MEK inhibition in vivo.
Conclusion: 124I-trametinib serves as an in vivo tool to personalize the dose instead of using the current single-fixed-dose scheme and, when combined with radiomic data, to monitor the emergence of therapy resistance. In addition, the production of iodinated trametinib affords researchers the ability to measure drug distribution for improved drug delivery studies.