| Docetaxel is an accepted chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancers. In the case of breast cancer, reported response rates after first line docetaxel therapy in metastatic disease or after second-line therapy is in the order to 52-68% and 50-58%, respectively. Methods that are able to predict the response to docetaxel would be very useful as non-responders could be offered alternative therapies at a much earlier stage without suffering side effects from ineffective doxetaxel administration. A potential means of predicting response is to measure tumor uptake of docetaxel in vivo using PET. The first part of this project was therefore to label docetaxel with the positron emitter 11 C. The radiosynthesis of 11 C-docetaxel, with the isotope in the BOC moiety, was successful, with a good overall yield. Research concerning the purification via a semi-preparative HPLC system, as well as its formulation is in progress. The pharmacokinetics of a tracer dose of docetaxel will be then studied. The main objective of clinical studies will be to evaluate the prognostic value of its uptake for response to therapeutic doses. |
