Biodistribution of rhenium-188 lipiodol infused via the hepatic artery of rats with hepatic tumours

The purpose of this study was to analyse the biodistribution of rhenium-188 Lipiodol in rats with hepatic tumours following intrahepatic arterial injection to assess the potential of 188Re-Lipiodol as a radiopharmaceutical for the treatment of hepatic tumours in humans. Twelve male rats with hepatic tumours were killed at 1h, 24h and 48h after injection of approximately 7.4MBq of 188Re-Lipiodol via the hepatic artery. Samples of various organs were obtained and counted to calculate the tissue concentration. Radioactivity in the hepatic tumours was very high throughout this study, with a biological half-life of 122.9h. Radioactivity in the normal liver tissue was also high, but was significantly lower than in the tumour. The biological half-life in the normal liver tissue was 31.7h. The ratio of tumour concentration to the normal liver tissue concentration was 5.15 at 1h and rose to 7.7 at 24h and 10.84 at 48h. The level of radioactivity in the lung was high at 1h, and declined rapidly over time. The level of radioactivity in the kidney was moderate throughout the study. The radiation concentrations in muscle, spleen, testis, bone and whole blood were insignificant. We conclude that 188Re-Lipiodol should be considered as a potential radiopharmaceutical for the intra-arterial treatment of hepatic tumours.