Imaging Fibroblast Activation Protein Alpha Improves Diagnosis of Metastatic Prostate Cancer with Positron Emission Tomography.

Abstract

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) is a lethal, heterogeneous disease with few therapeutic strategies that significantly prolong survival. Innovative therapies for mCRPC are needed; however, the development of new therapies relies on accurate imaging to assess metastasis and monitor response. Standard imaging modalities for prostate cancer require improvement and there remains a need for selective and sensitive imaging probes that can be widely used in patients with mCRPC. We evaluated the transmembrane protease fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) as a targetable cell surface antigen for mCRPC. Genomic and IHC analyses were performed to investigate FAP expression in prostate cancer. Our FAP-targeted antibody imaging probe, [⁸⁹Zr]Zr-B12 IgG, was evaluated by PET/CT imaging in preclinical prostate cancer models. Analysis of patient data documented FAP overexpression in metastatic disease across tumor subtypes. PET imaging with [⁸⁹Zr]Zr-B12 IgG demonstrated high tumor uptake and long-term retention of the probe in the preclinical models examined. FAP-positive stroma tumor uptake of [⁸⁹Zr]Zr-B12 IgG was 5-fold higher than the isotype control with mean %ID/cc of 34.13 ± 1.99 versus 6.12 ± 2.03 (<i>n</i> = 3/group; <i>P</i> = 0.0006) at 72 hours. <i>Ex vivo</i> biodistribution corroborated these results documenting rapid blood clearance by 24 hours and high tumor uptake of [⁸⁹Zr]Zr-B12 IgG by 72 hours. Our study reveals FAP as a target for imaging the tumor microenvironment of prostate cancer. Validation of [⁸⁹Zr]Zr-B12 IgG as a selective imaging probe for FAP-expressing tumors presents a new approach for noninvasive PET/CT imaging of mCRPC.