First clinical experience with fractionated intracavitary radioimmunotherapy using [(177)Lu]Lu-6A10-Fab fragments in patients with glioblastoma: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Following resection and standard adjuvant radio- and chemotherapy, approved maintenance therapies for glioblastoma are lacking. Intracavitary radioimmunotherapy (iRIT) with (177)Lu-labeled 6A10-Fab fragments targeting tumor-associated carbonic anhydrase XII and injected into the resection cavity offers a novel and promising strategy for improved tumor control. METHODS: Three glioblastoma patients underwent tumor resection followed by standard radio- and chemotherapy. These patients with stable disease following completion of standard therapy underwent iRIT on compassionate grounds. After surgical implantation of a subcutaneous injection reservoir with a catheter into the resection cavity, a leakage test with [(99m)Tc]Tc-DTPA was performed to rule out leakage into other cerebral compartments. IRIT comprised three consecutive applications over three months for each patient, with 25%, 50%, 25% of the total activity injected. A dosimetry protocol was included with blood sampling and SPECT/CT of the abdomen to calculate doses for the bone marrow and kidneys as potential organs at risk. RESULTS: All three patients presented without relevant leakage after application of [(99m)Tc]Tc-DTPA. Two patients underwent three full cycles of iRIT (592 MBq and 1228 MBq total activity). One patient showed histologically proven tumor progression after the second cycle (526 MBq total activity). No relevant therapy-associated toxicities or adverse events were observed. Dosimetry did not reveal absorbed doses above upper dose limits for organs at risk. CONCLUSIONS: In first individual cases, iRIT with [(177)Lu]Lu-6A10-Fab appears to be feasible and safe, without therapy-related side effects. A confirmatory multicenter phase-I-trial was recently opened and is currently recruiting. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13550-023-01029-7.