PET of EGFR antibody distribution in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma models. J Nucl Med 2009;50:1116–23

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a well-characterized protooncogene that has been shown to promote tumor pro-gression in solid cancers. Clinical results for EGFR targeting with specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as cetuxi-mab and panitumumab are promising; however, most studies indicate that only a subgroup of patients receiving the mAbs benefit from the immunotherapy, independent of EGFR ex-pression level. To understand the in vivo kinetics of antibody delivery and localization, we performed small-animal PET studies with 64Cu-labeled panitumumab in xenografts derived from 3 cell lines of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods: Nude mice bearing HNSCC tumors with different levels of EGFR expression were imagedwith small-animal PET using 64Cu-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N9,N$,N$9-tetraacetic acid (DOTA)-panitumumab. Antibody dis