Nanoradiopharmaceuticals for breast cancer imaging: development, characterization, and imaging in inducted animals

Monoclonal antibodies as polymeric nanoparticles are quite interesting and endow this new drug category with many advantages, especially by reducing the number of adverse reactions and, in the case of radiopharmaceuticals, also reducing the amount of radiation (dose) administered to the patient. In this study, a nanoradiopharmaceutical was developed using polylactic acid (PLA)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/montmorillonite (MMT)/trastuzumab nanoparticles labeled with technetium-99m (99mTc) for breast cancer imaging. In order to confirm the nanoparticle formation, atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering were performed. Cytotoxicity of the nanoparticle and biodistribution with 99mTc in healthy and inducted animals were also measured. The results from atomic force microscopy showed that the nanoparticles were spherical, with a size range of ~200–500 nm. The dynamic light scattering analysis demonstrated that over 90% of the nanoparticles produced had a size of 287 nm with a zeta potential of −14,6 mV. The cytotoxicity results demonstrated that the nanoparticles were capable of reaching breast cancer cells. The biodistribution data demonstrated that the PLA/PVA/MMT/trastuzumab nanoparticles labeled with 99mTc have great renal clearance and also a high uptake by the lesion, as ~45% of the PLA/PVA/MMT/trastuzumab nanoparticles injected were taken up by the lesion. The data support PLA/PVA/MMT/trastuzumab labeled with 99mTc nanoparticles as nanoradiopharmaceuticals for breast cancer imaging.