At their annual meeting held in June in San Antonio, USA, the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) awarded the University of Heidelberg with the 'Young Investigator Award'. The research offers a hope for patients suffering from neuro-endocrine cancer who do not respond well to standard therapies, such as surgery, chemotherapy and certain types of radiotherapy.

The treatment awarded, the 213Bi-DOTATOC peptide receptor alpha-therapy in patients with neuro-endocrine liver metastases refractory to beta-radiation, is the result of research conducted by a group of scientists of JRC’s Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) and fellow colleagues from the University of Heidelberg.

The benefit of alpha-therapy is its high cytotoxicity, or ability to kill cancerous cells. Most radiotherapies use beta-emitting particles, but more recently researchers have looked into the use of alpha-emitting particles, which have a very near-range and high-energy effect where administered. 

The 213Bi-DOTATOC was administered to 14 patients with neuro-endocrine liver metastases resistant to previous treatment with beta-particles. The therapy proved highly effective and induced remission of metastases without dangerous toxicity to healthy tissues. The researchers intend to carry out further studies with increased dosage aimed at obtaining more powerful effect for metastatic neuro-endocrine cancer.

The Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) is a non-profit professional association which publishes Journal of Nuclear Medicine and the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology.  It is dedicated to the practice and the science of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging and therapy. Currently, it gathers 16000 physicians, pharmacists, scientists and technologists from 76 different countries.