Marker of treatment efficacy
Several cancers evade cell death and acquire resistance to therapy by overexpressing anti-apoptotic proteins. Targeted anti-cancer therapies induce cancer cell death by restoring the balance between the pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins. This change in protein levels occurs much earlier than downstream metabolic and anatomical changes in a tumor; characteristics that are currently used to assess treatment efficacy. The primary objective of the Tx Response project is to demonstrate that changes in the concentration of free anti-apoptotic proteins serve as an early surrogate for cancer treatment efficacy. Our approach would involve the development of a PET imaging probe capable of binding the anti-apoptotic proteins. We anticipate that a reduction in PET signal intensity will be highly correlated to the concentration of anti-apoptotic proteins.
Some cancers (e.g. metastatic melanoma) adapt such that the therapy is no longer effective. Having an early surrogate for treatment efficacy will allow the clinician to modify the therapeutic regimen early, rather than after the tumor has enlarged.
Team Name
TxResponse (Treatment Response)
Project status
M+Visión project Jan 2013 – Jun 2014
On exit from M+Visión : unfunded
Sector
Oncology. Early evaluation response treatment
Fellows
Osasere Evbuomwan, Cristina Lois Gómez
Collaborators
Jacob Hooker, Martinos Center
MGH
Jefferey Engelman,
Center for Thoracic Cancers, MGH
Michael Gee
Radiology MGH
Marisol Soengas
Molecular Oncology CNIO
Francisca Mulero
Molecular Imaging, CNIO
Juan José Vaquero
Hospital Gregorio Marañón
Synthesis and evaluation of a radiolabeled stapled peptide for monitoring the apoptotic state of tumors. Osasere Evbuomwan, Frederick Schroeder, Cristina Lois, Michael Gee and Jacob Hooker. Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Annual Meeting, June 7-14, 2014, St. Louis, Missouri. J Nucl Med May 2014 vol. 55 no. supplement 1 1043
Media and updates
On June 8, 2014, Team Tx Response member Osasere Evbuomwan presented a poster on behalf of her team at the SNM (Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging) Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.
On October 23, 2014, Team Cell pitched at a FENIN (Federación Española de Empresas de Tecnología Sanitaria,) ‘In Vitro Diagnostics” event in Barcelona.