Project Details
CXCR4-imaging in esophageal cancer - diagnosis and prognosis (B05)
Subject Area
Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy, Radiobiology
Term
from 2009 to 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 68647618
Chronic inflammation is a central process in the development of Barrett’s Esophagus (BE) and its progression to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), with chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) expressing immune cells playing a key role in cancerogenesis and as a supportive niche for metastatic tumor cells. This project aims at improving surveillance and prognostic accuracy for BE and EAC patients by a) exploiting established CXCR4-targeted imaging techniques ([68Ga]Pentixafor-PET) to further analyze the role of CXCR4 expression in the progression of BE to EAC and in metastasis, and b) by the development of novel imaging probes for sensitive detection of CXCR4 expression in all stages of the disease by PET/optical imaging and fluorescence-supported endoscopy, both in mouse models and in humans.
DFG Programme
Collaborative Research Centres
Applicant Institution
Technische Universität München (TUM)
Project Heads
Professor Dr. Michael Quante; Professorin Dr. Margret Schottelius, until 5/2019; Professor Dr. Hans-Jürgen Wester, since 6/2019