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ANSTO technology could save millions in cancer treatment |
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Click on this animation to discover how SarAr is used to image cancer cells.
Flash player needed to view animation.
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Click on this animation to discover how SarAr is used to combine PET radioisotopes like copper-64 to antibodies.
Flash player needed to view animation.
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Australian scientists have developed a technology that could save millions of dollars in unnecessary cancer treatment.
The 'SarAr' platform technology is the means for attaching radioisotopes, such as copper-64, to carrier molecules for imaging.
But to appreciate the excitement about SarAr, you need to understand PET (Positron Emission Tomography) radiopharmaceuticals.
"For five to 10 years there's been a demand for PET radiopharmaceuticals in molecular imaging," explained the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation's (ANSTO) Dr Suzanne Smith.
"PET provides high resolution images with exquisite sensitivity for imaging cancer patients. Physicians use this information to determine where the disease is in the body."
The tricky part is that this process has been limited on two fronts.
Firstly, the short half-lives of (decay times of less than two hours) of commercially available PET isotopes, means they cannot be transported very far from where they are produced.
"There was a desire from hospitals for a longer-lived PET radioisotope that could be shipped to the hospital," said Suzanne. "Hence the hospital would not have the costly process of running a cyclotron in house."
"Cooper-64 fitted the bill, but then there was a need for strong ligands (molecules that can easily attach to another molecule in or on cells) to bind this PET radioisotope to cancer treating molecules."
Enter SarAr.
Copper-64 - the up and coming PET isotope
With scientists at the Australian National University, Suzanne developed SarAr technology, which has many applications and is easy to use.
"It can rapidly encapsulate copper-64 (a radioisotope with a half-life suitable for shipping across a continent), and generate a product that can be imaged in the body," Suzanne explained.
SarAr is insensitive to pH, sit can attach copper-64 to target molecules over a wide range of conditions. A major commercial advantage is that the process is undertaken at room temperature.
"That means the technology can be applied to heat sensitive carriers such as peptides or antibodies," said Suzanne.
Platinum opportunities
The opportunities with SarAr don't just stop there.
Though our first association with platinum is designer jewellery and sky's-the-limit credit cards, platinum-based chemotherapy drugs are highly effective in first and second line cancer treatments.
"But there are issues regarding how to use them, toxicity, the way individuals respond and develop resistance which renders the drug ineffective," explained Suzanne.
Up to 28 per cent of patients can experience severe side effects during treatment, resulting in either dose reduction or treatment termination.
"Both are traumatic and expensive," said Suzanne.
The ability to image the platinum drug as it moves through the body allows doctors to monitor drug resistance and see how the drug is being taken up by the body, so they can either tailor-make treatment (both dose and drug choice) or decide not go ahead with that particular therapy.
"We have developed a technology to produce a radioactive form of the platinum drugs that allows the doctor to follow platinum compound as it moves through the body. Doctors can use this product to decide if the drug is getting to the tumour site - within a few hours doctors can see where the drug is going and how effective it is and decide the appropriate measure for that patient," said Suzanne.
"Until now it's been extremely difficult to make such a radiopharmaceutical quickly and reliably," explained Suzanne.
"We are extremely excited about this technology and so are many other cancer treatment centres around the world. We have multiple clinical centres in the UK and South Africa interested in this technology."
Approximately 28 per cent of all patients undergoing chemotherapy have a platinum-based drug incorporated into their treatment regime. In Australia, there are 28 000 new cases of cancer each year that would be treated by platinum-based compounds as a first treatment option. Globally, this equates to approximately one million patients.
"Due to the side effects associated with platinum therapy, if decisions concerning the treatment's effectiveness can be made prior to commencing a full course of therapy (and during treatment), a significant number of patients may avoid ineffective treatment and save healthcare systems millions," concluded Suzanne.
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Platinum-based therapies are mostly used in lung, testicular, ovarian, bladder, colorectal and head and neck cancers |
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Copper-64 has a 12.7 hour half-life which means ANSTO can produce it in bulk and distribute it around the country |
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In the future, ANSTO will not only have the capability to produce and distribute copper-64, it could supply the SarAr technology for institutes in both Australia and overseas to use this longer-life isotope for PET imaging purposes - it's a great opportunity! |
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