REFINING ANIMAL MODEL OF HUMAN PROSTATE CANCER FOR APPLICATION IN DIAGNOSIS AND RADIONUCLIDE THERAPY

• Grant number: 22/14251-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Maria Helena Bellini Marumo
• Grantee: Laura Fernanda Garcia
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN). Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Econômico (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of death in adult men. Age is an important risk factor for PCa, since both incidence and mortality significantly increase after 50 years of age. Early diagnosis of the disease is performed by routine clinical and laboratory tests. The joint analysis of these tests will determine which imaging tests will be necessary to finalize the diagnosis and define the treatment. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a type II membrane protein. PSMA expression is significantly higher in primary PCa compared to benign tissue and also significantly higher in lymph node and distant metastases compared to primary tumors. The development of PSMA-targeted radiopharmaceuticals is a potential strategy for imaging prostate cancer and its metastases in nuclear medicine. The IPEN Radiopharmacy Center has been developing PSMA-specific radiopharmaceuticals for the therapy and diagnosis of PCa. To reach the clinical evaluation phase, pre-clinical studies must be developed, using animal models to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these new radiopharmaceuticals. Thus, the development of a prostate tumor model in experimental animals with expression of PSMA receptors is extremely important for the development of radiopharmaceuticals with theranostic application in metastatic prostate cancer. The partnership between CECRF and CEBIO will promote the development of such models and support for the pre-clinical evaluation of new radiopharmaceuticals.