TSPO PET Imaging in GBM
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Imaging of the 18kDa Translocator Protein in Primary and Recurrent High-Grade Glioma using PET
IRAS ID
194361
Contact name
David Coope
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 30 days
Research summary
The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of the Translocator Protein (TSPO) can predict tumour recurrence in high-grade brain tumours. \n\nThe most challenging aspect in improving the care and outcome of brain tumours is their inevitable recurrence. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive forms of the brain tumours which carry the poorest outcome. First line treatment in GBM is well established (surgical resection, radiotherapy and Temozolomide), but still suboptimal, with inevitable recurrence and fatal outcome in less than 15 months for most patients, according to the latest statistics.\n\nMolecular imaging with PET is increasingly implemented in neuro-oncology research, both for patient management as well as evaluation of newly developed therapeutics, since it provides additional metabolic information of tumour behaviour. Previous research from our group and others have demonstrated that TSPO PET imaging could be useful in predicting the type and grade of the tumour. We also hypothesise that TSPO imaging could be predictive of the infiltrative areas that could potentially cause tumour recurrence. \n\nAnother important aspect of our research is dedicated to the additional chemotherapeutic options on the tumour recurrence. As previously mentioned first line treatment is already established but management of recurrent disease is less established and treatment decisions are largely empirical. A personalized approach to treatment decisions based on patient-specific tumour sensitivities would be more informative and appealing. Thus a secondary aim of our study would be to test different chemotherapeutics on patient specific tumour cell cultures through a modification to a well-established technique, High Throughput Compound Screening (HTCS). HTCS has been used extensively in the past as a drug discovery tool in the pharmaceutical industry; however its use in the clinical setting may have been limited due to lack of availability of representative tissues and cells. \n
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0548
Date of REC Opinion
13 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion