ד"ר גלית אבורבה
תחום מחקר: דימות וחומרי דימות
Synopsis
The Cyclotron Unit at Hadassah accommodates two cyclotrons, a radiochemistry laboratory and a microPET/CT imaging facility, and as such, its research activities in the field of preclinical positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging are unrivaled nationwise. Our activities include production of fluorine-18 and carbon-11 labeled pharmaceuticals, such as [18F]FDG, [18F]FLT, [18F]fluoroDOPA, [11C]choline etc. for routine clinical use, as well as research and development of novel radiopharmaceuticals for PET imaging. Our principal research activities currently involve the investigation of potential radiolabeled probes for PET imaging in oncology and in cardiology.
Specifically, we have investigated the potential of carbon-11 labeled erlotinib as a PET molecular imaging probe of the EGFR for the non-invasive diagnosis of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The benefit of treating NSCLC patients using this selective EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) has been established only in a subset of patients, whose tumors harbor activating mutations in the TK domain of the EGFR; currently necessitating invasive procedures for characterizing the EGFR`s molecular status in tumors prior to the initiation of TKI-treatment. Using NSCLC tumor-bearing mouse models, we have recently demonstrated the potential of [11C]erlotinib-PET as a non-invasive approach to identify tumors that express such mutations in the EGFR.
Our work in the field of cardiology has focused on the screening and characterization of a series of fluorine-18 and carbon-11 ammonium salt derivatives as potential PET-myocardial perfusion imaging agents for the non invasive imaging and detection of ischemic coronary artery disease.