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Nuclear medicine treatment shows promise for cancer therapy

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Dec-2014

Contact: Kimberly Brown kbrown@snmmi.org 703-652-6773 Society of Nuclear Medicine @SNM_MI

Reston, Va. (December 9, 2014) - Cancer therapy can be much more effective using a new way to customize nuclear medicine treatment, researchers say in the December 2014 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The process could also be useful for other diseases that could benefit from targeted radiation.

Targeted therapy with radiopharmaceuticals--radioactive compounds used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis or treatment--has great potential for the treatment of cancer, especially for cancer cells that have migrated from primary tumors to lymph nodes and secondary organs such as bone marrow. These disseminated tumor cells can be difficult to treat with a single targeting agent because there are dramatic differences in the number of targetable receptors on each cell.

In the study, breast cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of a cocktail of four fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies. The amount of each antibody bound to each cell was determined using flow cytometry. Formulas were developed to "arm" the antibodies with the desired radionuclide and activity, calculate the absorbed dose to each cell, and perform a simulation of the surviving fraction of cells after exposure to cocktails of different antibody combinations. Simulations were performed for three alpha-particle emitters.

"Our approach moves radiation treatment planning for cancer therapy from the tumor level to the molecular and cellular level, with nuclear medicine serving as the treatment engine," stated Roger Howell, Ph.D., lead researcher. "The concepts are not restricted to cancer therapy but can be applied more widely to other diseases that may benefit from a targeted approach with cocktails of radiopharmaceuticals. The approach can also be extended to cocktails consisting of radiopharmaceuticals and non-radioactive agents."

The effect of the radiopharmaceutical cocktails was compared to that of single antibodies. In certain activities, cocktails outperformed single antibodies by a factor of up to 244. These findings suggest that targeted alpha therapy can be improved with customized radiolabeled antibody cocktails. Depending on the antibody combination and specific activity of the radiolabeled antibodies, cocktails can provide a substantial advantage in tumor cell killing. The methodology used in this analysis provides a foundation for pretreatment prediction of tumor cell survival in the context of personalized cancer therapy.

"This method is preferable, as it accounts for behavior of the drugs in the patient's body," Howell continues. "The beauty of either approach for planning a treatment is that the patient is not subjected to any radiopharmaceutical injections during the planning phase, which uses only fluorescent-labeled drugs. The patient is not injected with radiopharmaceuticals until the treatment phase, whereupon only a cocktail specifically optimized for that individual is administered. This spares the patient from receiving ineffective cocktails that may damage normal tissues and prevent further treatment."

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Nuclear medicine treatment shows promise for cancer therapy

Where Doctors Train May Affect Whether They Practice Expensive Medicine

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TUESDAY, Dec. 9, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors who were trained in high-cost areas of the United States may be more likely to practice expensive medicine, a new study suggests.

However, that effect gradually decreases over time.

Researchers from George Washington University analyzed Medicare claims data from doctors who completed their residencies between 1992 and 2010. They found that those who did their medical training in more expensive regions of the country spent an average of 29 percent more on patient care than those who did their training in less expensive regions.

"Evidence suggests that there is wide variation in Medicare spending, with higher spending associated with more inpatient-based and specialist-oriented care," study senior author Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan, professor of medicine and health policy at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington, said in a university news release.

"A number of studies also show that higher spending for health care doesn't necessarily lead to better outcomes," Mullan added.

In the study, the unadjusted average spending of doctors who trained in high-spending areas was $1,847 more per Medicare patient. When adjusted for patient, doctor and community factors, the spending was about $522 more per patient.

The difference in spending was strongest among doctors who had recently completed their residency program. Within seven years after completing training, doctors trained in high-spending regions spent an average of $2,434 more per patient than those who trained in lower-spending regions.

Spending differences linked to doctors' training locations were no longer evident 16 to 19 years after completing their residency, according to the researchers.

Study author Dr. Candice Chen said, "Communities that recruit physicians who have trained in areas where more health care services are the norm will practice more expensive medicine but not necessarily produce better health outcomes." Chen conducted the research while an assistant research professor at Milken, which is based in Washington, D.C.

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Where Doctors Train May Affect Whether They Practice Expensive Medicine

Urban Health Training Center UHTC ,Community Medicine Department PMCH , Udaipur Raj part 2 – Video

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Urban Health Training Center UHTC ,Community Medicine Department PMCH , Udaipur Raj part 2
ANATOMY DEPARTMENT,PACIFIC MEDICAL COLLEGE,medicine,MBBS,facilities,ECG room,Dental Sciences,ACADEMICS,Medicine,pantry,nursing,resident doctors,PACIFIC MEDICAL COLLEGE ...

By: hi udaipur

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Urban Health Training Center UHTC ,Community Medicine Department PMCH , Udaipur Raj part 2 - Video

Fourth Street Clinic team, Phil Taylor and Leticia Vasquez, take medicine to the homeless in Salt La – Video

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Fourth Street Clinic team, Phil Taylor and Leticia Vasquez, take medicine to the homeless in Salt La
Fourth Street Clinic team, Phil Taylor and Leticia Vasquez, take medicine to the homeless in Salt Lake Valley. #Utah By: Kristen Moulton Published on: December 8, 2014 Source: http://www.tout.com...

By: The Salt Lake Tribune

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Fourth Street Clinic team, Phil Taylor and Leticia Vasquez, take medicine to the homeless in Salt La - Video

Cancer therapy shows promise for nuclear medicine treatment

Posted on by

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Dec-2014

Contact: Kimberly Brown kbrown@snmmi.org 703-652-6773 Society of Nuclear Medicine @SNM_MI

Reston, Va. (December 9, 2014) - Cancer therapy can be much more effective using a new way to customize nuclear medicine treatment, researchers say in the December 2014 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The process could also be useful for other diseases that could benefit from targeted radiation.

Targeted therapy with radiopharmaceuticals--radioactive compounds used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis or treatment--has great potential for the treatment of cancer, especially for cancer cells that have migrated from primary tumors to lymph nodes and secondary organs such as bone marrow. These disseminated tumor cells can be difficult to treat with a single targeting agent because there are dramatic differences in the number of targetable receptors on each cell.

In the study, breast cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of a cocktail of four fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies. The amount of each antibody bound to each cell was determined using flow cytometry. Formulas were developed to "arm" the antibodies with the desired radionuclide and activity, calculate the absorbed dose to each cell, and perform a simulation of the surviving fraction of cells after exposure to cocktails of different antibody combinations. Simulations were performed for three alpha-particle emitters.

"Our approach moves radiation treatment planning for cancer therapy from the tumor level to the molecular and cellular level, with nuclear medicine serving as the treatment engine," stated Roger Howell, Ph.D., lead researcher. "The concepts are not restricted to cancer therapy but can be applied more widely to other diseases that may benefit from a targeted approach with cocktails of radiopharmaceuticals. The approach can also be extended to cocktails consisting of radiopharmaceuticals and non-radioactive agents."

The effect of the radiopharmaceutical cocktails was compared to that of single antibodies. In certain activities, cocktails outperformed single antibodies by a factor of up to 244. These findings suggest that targeted alpha therapy can be improved with customized radiolabeled antibody cocktails. Depending on the antibody combination and specific activity of the radiolabeled antibodies, cocktails can provide a substantial advantage in tumor cell killing. The methodology used in this analysis provides a foundation for pretreatment prediction of tumor cell survival in the context of personalized cancer therapy.

"This method is preferable, as it accounts for behavior of the drugs in the patient's body," Howell continues. "The beauty of either approach for planning a treatment is that the patient is not subjected to any radiopharmaceutical injections during the planning phase, which uses only fluorescent-labeled drugs. The patient is not injected with radiopharmaceuticals until the treatment phase, whereupon only a cocktail specifically optimized for that individual is administered. This spares the patient from receiving ineffective cocktails that may damage normal tissues and prevent further treatment."

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Cancer therapy shows promise for nuclear medicine treatment


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