Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Radiopharm Theranostics (ASX:RAD) has announced the publication of a novel imaging approach demonstrating proof-of-concept for the use of RAD 101 for successful detection of brain metastases (both treatment-naïve and previously treated) from a variety of primary solid tumours.
The clinical study, recently published by Islam et al. in the prestigious European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, reports a novel methodology of detecting brain metastases using the proprietary radiotracer 18F-RAD101 in a hybrid imaging test that combines Positron Emission Tomography and Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (PET-mpMRI).
The study investigated the imaging characteristics of brain metastases in 12 treatment-naïve (no prior brain radiotherapy) patients and 10 patients who had previously been treated with brain radiation. All brain metastases, regardless of the tumour of origin, were detected with 18F-RAD101 PET-mpMRI, with a high tumour-to-background ratio.
RAD 101 is a novel imaging small molecule that targets fatty acid metabolism, which is upregulated in many solid tumours, including cerebral metastases. Targeting the transport and metabolism of fatty acid synthase, RAD 101 enables accurate detection of cancer cells,
representing a viable target for the imaging of brain metastases. In October 2022, preliminary positive data from the Imperial College of London’s Phase 2a imaging trial of RAD 101 in patients with brain metastases showed significant tumour uptake that was independent from the tumour of origin3, now confirmed in the larger study.
Radiopharm’s RAD 101 Phase 2b clinical trial, entitled “An Open-Label, Single Dose, Single Arm, Multicentre Phase 2b Study to Establish the Imaging Performance of RAD101 Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in Participants with Suspected Recurrent Brain Metastases from Solid Tumours”, is currently open and recruiting in the United States4. The trial is designed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of 18F-RAD101 in individuals with suspected recurrent brain metastasis from solid tumours of different origins.
“Intracranial metastases occur with a frequency four-times higher than primary tumours of the brain,” said Dr Eric Aboagye, lead inventor of RAD 101, co-author of the publication, Professor of Cancer Pharmacology & Molecular Imaging at the Imperial College of London, and Director of the CRUK-EPSRC-MRC-NIHR Comprehensive Cancer Imaging Centre.
“With a poor prognosis, there is a need for improved detection and characterisation of these metastases. Our work affirms the current understanding of the way in which cancers of diverse origin utilise simple short chain fatty acids compared to glucose and other nutrients in the brain environment, and how to employ this information to improve detection of metastases in the brain.
“18F-RAD101 PET also provides us with opportunities to delve deeply into therapeutic opportunities.”
