Enhancement of the radiation response of EMT-6 tumours by a copper octabromotetracarboranylphenylporphyrin.

OBJECTIVE: The carborane-containing porphyrin, copper (II) 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octabromo-5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3-[1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecaboranyl]methoxyphenyl)-porphyrin (CuTCPBr), was investigated as a potential radiation enhancing agent for X-ray radiotherapy (XRT) in a subcutaneously implanted EMT-6 murine carcinoma. METHOD: The biodistribution and toxicological profile of this porphyrin has been shown to be favourable for another bimodal radiotherapy technique, boron neutron-capture therapy. For the XRT studies, CuTCPBr was formulated in either 9% Cremophor (BASF Corporation, Ludwigschafen, Germany) EL and 18% propylene glycol (9% CRM) or a revised formulation comprising 1% Cremophor ELP, 2% Tween 80 (JT Baker, Mansfield, MA), 5% ethanol and 2.2% PEG 400 (CTEP formulation), which would be more clinically acceptable than the original 9% CRM formulation. Using the 9% CRM formulation of CuTCPBr, doses of 100, 210 or 400 mg kg(-1) of body weight were used in combination with single doses of 25-35 Gy 100 kVp X-rays. RESULTS: While doses of 100 mg kg(-1) and 210 mg kg(-1) did not result in any significant enhancement of tumour response, the 400 mg kg(-1) dose did. A dose modification factor of 1.20±0.10 was obtained based on the comparison of doses that produced a 50% local tumour control probability. With the CTEP formulation of CuTCPBr, doses of 83 and 170 mg kg(-1) produced significant radiation enhancement, with dose modification factors based on the TCP(50) of 1.29±0.15 and 1.84±0.24, respectively. CONCLUSION: CuTCPBr significantly enhanced the efficacy of XRT in the treatment of EMT-6 carcinomas in mice. The CTEP formulation showed a marked improvement, with over 9% CRM being associated with higher dose modification factors. Moreover, the radiation response in the skin was not enhanced.

Synthesis of copper octabromotetracarboranylphenylporphyrin for boron neutron capture therapy and its toxicity and biodistribution in tumour-bearing mice.

Copper tetracarboranyltetraphenylporphyrin (CuTCPH) is a minimally toxic carborane-containing porphyrin that has safely delivered high concentrations of boron for experimental boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Copper octabromotetracarboranylphenylporphyrin (CuTCPBr), synthesized by bromination of CuTCPH, is one of several new minimally toxic analogues of CuTCPH being studied in our laboratory, which could possess comparable or better tumour-targeting properties with enhanced tumour cytotoxicity. Its biodistribution, biokinetics and toxicity in mice with subcutaneous EMT-6 (mammary) or SCCVII (squamous cell) carcinomas were compared with those of CuTCPH. The administration of approximately 200 mg kg(-1) of either porphyrin in six intraperitoneal injections over 2 days had no apparent effect, but administration of approximately 400 mg kg(-1) slightly lowered body weights, elevated alanine and aspartate transaminase activities in blood plasma, and depressed blood platelet counts for several days. Enzymes and platelets returned to normal within 5 days after those injections and body weights returned to normal within 2 weeks. High average concentrations of boron from either porphyrin were achieved in the two tumour models from a total dose of approximately 200 mg kg(-1). The high tumour boron concentration decreased slowly while concentrations in blood decreased rapidly. Boron concentrations in brain and skin were consistently lower than in tumour by a factor of 10 or more. Although either CuTCPH or CuTCPBr can be labelled with (64)Cu for imaging by positron emission tomography (PET), CuTCPBr can also be labelled by (76)Br, another PET-imageable nuclide.

Neuropathology of ablation of rat gliosarcomas and contiguous brain tissues using a microplanar beam of synchrotron-wiggler-generated X rays.

Adult-rat-brain tissues display an unusually high resistance to necrosis when serially irradiated with parallel, thin slices of a microplanar (i.e., microscopically thin and macroscopically broad) beam of synchrotron-wiggler-generated, approx. 35-120 keV (median approx. 50 keV) Gd-filtered X rays at skin-entrance absorbed doses of 312 to 5000 Gy per slice. Such microplanar beams were used to irradiate young adult rats bearing right frontocerebral 9L gliosarcomas (approx. 4 mm diameter), through a volume of tissue containing the tumor and contiguous brain tissue, either in a single array or in 2 orthogonally crossed arrays of tissue slices. Each array included 101 parallel microplanar slices, 100 microm center-to-center distance, each slice being approx. 25 microm wide and 12 mm high, with skin-entrance absorbed doses of 312.5 Gy or 625 Gy per slice. Compared with unirradiated controls with a median survival time of 20 days after tumor initiation, the median survival time was extended in irradiated rats by 139 days (625 Gy, crossed arrays), 96 days (312 Gy, crossed arrays) or 24 days (625 Gy, single array). The tumors disappeared in 22 of the 36 irradiated rats, 4/11 even after unidirectional microbeam irradiation. The extent and severity of radiation damage to the normal brain in rats with or without tumor was graded histopathologically. Correlation of those grades with radiation doses shows that loss of tissue structure was confined to beam-crossing regions and that only minor damage was done to zones of the brain irradiated unidirectionally.

Accumulation of boron in malignant and normal cells incubated in vitro with boronophenylalanine, mercaptoborane or boric acid.

The short (< 10 microns) ranges of alpha and 7Li particles produced during boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) make the partitioning of the boronated drug within and without the cell of critical importance. The evaluation of the potential usefulness of a boron-containing substance for BNCT requires information about its intracellular accumulation. In the present report, an in vitro method is described for direct measurement of intracellular boron based on rapid centrifugation of cells through a layer of mineral oil and silicon oil to strip away extracellular growth medium. The intracellular concentrations of boronophenylalanine (BPA), mercaptoborane (BSH) and horic acid in malignant cells and in normal cells have been compared. The accumulation ratio is defined as the ratio of the intracellular to the extracellular boron concentration. Boric acid showed an accumulation ratio of 1 while the ratios for BSH and BPA were dependent on cell type and tended to be greater for BPA than for BSH in malignant but not in normal cells.

Derivations of relative biological effectiveness for the high-let radiations produced during boron neutron capture irradiations of the 9L rat gliosarcoma in vitro and in vivo.

PURPOSE: Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values for the high linear-energy-transfer particles produced during boron neutron capture therapy have generally been based on theoretical considerations or in vitro experiments. The purpose of this study was to independently determine RBE values for all of the boron neutron capture therapy dose components. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Clonogenic cell survival data were obtained for 9L rat gliosarcoma cells irradiated in the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor thermal neutron beam both in vitro and as an intracerebral tumor. These data were analyzed using the linear quadratic model for cell survival to derive measured RBE values for all beam components and for a number of different boron compounds. RESULTS: In the absence of boron, the combined effects of the protons from the nitrogen capture, 14N(n,p)14C, and the fast neutron scatter, 1H(n,n')p, reactions generated RBEs of 3.7 in vitro and 3.2 in an in vivo/in vitro excision assay, compared to 250 kVp X rays using an end point of 1% cell survival. Apparent RBEs for the 10B(n,alpha)7Li reaction products were calculated from cell survival data following reactor irradiations in the presence of the amino acid p-boronophenylalanine, the sulfhydryl dodecaborate monomer or dimer, or boric acid. Apparent RBEs for the 10B(n,alpha)7Li reaction ranged from 1.2 to 9.8 depending on which boron compound was used. RBEs from the in vitro studies were consistently higher than from the in vivo/in vitro studies. Under any conditions, the apparent RBE for the 10B(n,alpha)7Li reaction with p-boronophenylalanine was higher than that with any other boron compound tested. CONCLUSIONS: Generally accepted RBE values for the fast neutron and 14N(n,p)14C reaction components of the total dose are too low. The apparent RBEs calculated for the 10B(n,alpha)7Li reaction were compound-dependent and consistent with differences in the distribution of 10B relative to glioma cell nuclei.