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News ReleasesContentsRecent News ReleasesJuly 1: Imaging Technique Allows Researchers to Monitor Protein Changes in Mouse TumorsA new imaging technique can monitor, in living mice, the HER2 protein found in above-normal amounts in many cases of breast cancer as well as some ovarian, prostate and lung cancers. This new approach, once validated in mice and pending further experiments, could provide a real-time noninvasive method for identifying tumors in humans who express HER2 and who would be candidates for targeted therapy directed against this protein. It may also provide real-time information that will help clinicians optimize treatment for individual patients. The study, published in the July 2009 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, was conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, both parts of the National Institutes of Health. The HER2 protein is overexpressed (produced at higher-than-normal levels) in approximately 20 percent to 25 percent of breast cancers. Tumors that overexpress HER2 are more aggressive and more likely to recur than tumors that do not overexpress the protein. Targeted therapies directed against HER2 can slow or stop the growth of tumors that overexpress it. Currently, HER2 expression is measured in biopsy specimens - that is, in tumor samples that have been removed from the body. However, expression of HER2 in these samples may not accurately represent HER2 expression in the tumor as a whole. Moreover, follow-up biopsies are not routinely performed after the initial diagnosis, and there are no means to evaluate how long a targeted therapy takes to reach its target, how effective it is, and how long its effects last. In this study, the research team used an imaging compound that consists of a radioactive atom (fluorine-18) attached to an Affibody molecule, a small protein that binds strongly and specifically to HER2. Affibody molecules, developed by Affibody AB, Bromma, Sweden, are much smaller than antibodies and can reach the surface of tumors more easily. The radioactive atom allows the distribution of the Affibody molecules in the body to be analyzed by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. The research team first used the radiolabeled Affibody molecule to visualize tumors that expressed HER2 in mice. The mice were injected under the skin with human breast cancer cells that varied in their levels of HER2 expression, from no expression to very high expression. After three to five weeks, when tumors had formed, the mice were injected with the Affibody molecule and PET images were recorded. The levels of HER2 expression as determined by PET were consistent with the levels measured in surgically removed samples of the same tumors using established laboratory techniques. To determine whether their method could be used to monitor possible changes in HER2 expression in response to treatment, the team next injected the Affibody molecule into mice with tumors that expressed very high or high levels of HER2 and then treated them with the drug 17-DMAG, which is known to decrease HER2 expression. PET scans were performed before and after 17-DMAG treatment. The researchers found that HER2 levels were reduced by 71 percent in mice with tumors that expressed very high levels of HER2 and by 33 percent in mice with tumors that expressed high levels of HER2 in comparison with mice that did not receive 17-DMAG. The researchers confirmed these reductions by using established laboratory techniques to determine the concentrations of HER2 in the tumors after they were removed from the mice. "Our work shows that PET imaging using Affibody molecules was sufficiently sensitive to detect a twofold to threefold decrease in HER2 expression," said senior author Jacek Capala, Ph.D., of NCI's Center for Cancer Research. "Therefore, PET imaging may provide a considerable advantage over current methods. Our technique would allow a better selection of patients for HER2-targeted therapies and also early detection of tumors that either do not respond to or acquire resistance to these therapies." "This approach might easily be extended to forms of cancer other than breast cancer," continued Capala. "Because Affibody molecules may be selected to target specific cell proteins, similar compounds can be developed to target proteins that are unique to other types of tumors." For more information on Dr. Capala's research, please go to: http://ccr.cancer.gov/staff/staff.asp?profileid=9891. June 30: NIBIB Quantum Grantee Mehmet Toner and Team Receive National Stand Up to Cancer GrantA research team headed by Drs. Mehmet Toner, Ph.D. and Daniel Haber, M.D., Ph.D., of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, has been awarded a $15 million research grant from the proceeds raised by the Entertainment Industry Foundation during their landmark Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) telethon. The Foundation, established by media and entertainment industry leaders to raise cancer awareness and accelerate developments in cancer research, raised over $100 million during their first telethon, which was aired simultaneously by ABC, CBS, and NBC in September 2008.
The SU2C grant will help accelerate research and development of the Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) microchip, which was initiated with National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) Quantum Grant (QG) funds in 2007. The size of a mere microscope slide, with great sensitivity that allows the detection of one at-large cancer cell out of a billion blood cells, the CTC chip sorts out and traps migrating tumor cells gently enough to also maintain their viability, which is key to further analysis that gives clues that can contribute to decisions on cancer treatment. Toner explains how QG strategies set the research bar higher, but also promote the proper environment for success. "The Quantum Grants take a major medical problem where engineering could have great impact, and they put together a multidisciplinary team to tackle the problem. It requires people who are working closely together, and it requires us to take on a bigger challenge than we would ordinarily." The "one-two punch" of CTC microchip research success has thus far been realized through the tandem impact of QG funds and the NIBIB-funded BioMEMS (Biomicroelectromechanical Systems) Resource Center, which, in Toner’s words, "…has been a unique environment nurturing the translation of this device from a ‘cool technology’ phase to ‘real technology’ phase with great potential for impact at the patient’s bedside." Toner explains, "Getting technology to people’s bedside is not an easy thing to do. The [BioMEMS] experience has been educational for me, and very beneficial. It has impacted my own research group to become more translational, and we do it better than we could in the past. You have to step forward into full-scale collaboration to make strides forward translationally."
Toner also appreciates the wisdom behind NIBIB’s requirements for end-user collaboration with the Resource Center. "In order to get continued funding, we have to be able to disseminate the technology. This is extremely critical to development, because by working together with end users, we can really sharpen the functionalities and specifications of the technology." Highlighting the mounting challenges of today’s multidisciplinary research, he continues, "The research problems we are working on are more and more complex. You need to integrate with collaborators on a day-to-day basis, so that they can help you think about problems and issues in areas where you’re not an expert, and create an environment where you actually think together – morph together – sharing information, access, and also sharing credit." The NIBIB fosters interdisciplinary research and the translation of research to clinical application. The CTC microchip research project is consistent with the NIBIB mission in technology development and the philosophy of accelerating technology application. Read more about the CTC microchip and SU2C grant at:
February 6: Announcing NIBIB Forum for Technology Translation: The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in the Development and Translation of in vitro DiagnosticsProgram and Logistics (Adobe PDF 18K) The NIBIB will host a forum on the role of public-private partnerships in the development and translation of in vitro diagnostic technologies on April 2, 2009, in Seattle, WA. This will be the first of a series of forums on technology translation through which the NIBIB hopes to achieve the following goals:
The technology focus for this forum will be on in vitro diagnostics with applications in point-of-care settings. Specifically, development efforts in multiplexed diagnostics will be highlighted in this meeting. The program will consist of presentations by NIBIB grantees as well as by representatives from industry and the FDA. Key topics of discussion will be:
January 12: NIBIB-RSNA RadLex Ontology ProjectRadLex is supported both by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and by the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) project of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The purpose of the NIBIB supported RSNA RadLex Ontology project is to provide a uniform source of terms and concepts for indexing and retrieving a variety of imaging information sources, such as imaging research databases, educational materials, and clinical imaging reports. When complete, the RadLex Ontology will be capable of describing the salient aspects of an imaging examination, including modality, technique, visual features, anatomy, findings, and pathology. The RadLex Ontology will be available for use by a wide variety of software tools and web-based information resources, including major NIH bioinformatics projects, e.g. caBIG, BIRN, CTSA. This project creates the RadLex Ontology of interconnected radiology concepts from the list of RadLex terms in different domains, such as Cardiovascular, Musculoskeletal, Neuroradiology, Abdominal, Pediatric, Thoracic Systems, etc. NIBIB-RSNA RadLex Ontology project leverages the current RSNA RadLex effort. The RadLex project has enlisted the collaboration of other radiology organizations, including RSNA and the American College of Radiology (ACR), to develop a comprehensive radiology lexicon. It has been designed to satisfy the needs of software developers, system vendors, and radiology users by adopting the best features of existing terminology systems. The RadLex terms have mapped to SNOMED-CT of the College of American Pathologists (CAP). It will also be as part of the DICOM Content Mapping Resource. RSNA has aggressively promoted RadLex ontology to RSNA members at the RSNA annual meeting each fall. The RadLex ontology has been disseminated through RadLex web site, BioPortal web site, the National Center for Biomedical Ontology, the caBIG, and the NCI Metathesaurus. RadLex Ontology has been adopted by commercial companies, academia, and societies. On the RSNA RadLex web site (http://www.rsna.org/RadLex/), it states: “RadLex is supported both by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and by the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) project of the National Cancer Institute (NCI).” |
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