by Society of Nuclear Medicine and
Molecular Imaging
A protein that is critical in cancer cell
metabolism has been imaged for the first time with a newly developed
radiopharmaceutical, 18F-DASA-23. Imaging with this novel agent has the
potential to improve the assessment of treatment response for patients,
specifically those with brain tumors. This study was presented at the Society
of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2021 Annual Meeting.
Tumor cells go through various changes to
survive and prosper in the body. One of the key changes they make is modifying
a master switch, known as pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2). PKM2 controls cell
metabolism and allows the cell to make more of the building blocks necessary
for cell division.
"Until now we've had no way to assess
the presence or activity levels of the PKM2 protein involved in that
switch," said Corinne Beinat, Ph.D., instructor of radiology in the
Radiology/Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford University in Stanford,
California. "Through the development of 18F-DASA-23, this is the first
time we can noninvasively interrogate the biochemistry of a tumor with respect
to this master switch PKM2."
The study focused on patients with
glioblastoma brain tumors, as normal brain cells have very low levels of PKM2.
Healthy volunteers and patients with glioblastoma underwent positron emission
tomography/magnetic resonance imaging with 18F-DASA-23. The radiopharmaceutical
was successful in visualizing PKM2 in glioblastoma patients, while it was
rapidly cleared from the bodies of healthy volunteers.
"This radiopharmaceutical can be very
beneficial in assessing whether brain tumor treatments are working,"
stated Beinat. "For example, if a brain tumor is treated with a drug and
then imaged with 18F-DASA-23, we can potentially know very quickly whether the
therapeutic approach is working. If it's not effective, we won't have to waste
more time waiting to see if the tumor itself is shrinking."
She added that 18F-DASA-23 could also
possibly be used in other cancers or to learn more about how normal tissues
adjust their metabolism during development or in response to varied
environmental conditions.