{"id":1372,"date":"2021-04-13T15:10:27","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T22:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/?p=1372"},"modified":"2021-04-13T17:18:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T00:18:35","slug":"chemistry-for-cancer-new-radioactive-tracers-for-cancer-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/2021\/04\/13\/chemistry-for-cancer-new-radioactive-tracers-for-cancer-diagnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Chemistry for Cancer: New Radioactive Tracers for Cancer Diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cutting-edge chemistry may be the key to fast and efficient cancer diagnoses. In early 2020, Antonio Wong and his research team at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, BC, developed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/en\/content\/articlepdf\/2020\/md\/d0md00054j?page=search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a new way to synthesize radioactive tracers<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/pet-scan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">positron emission tomography (PET) scan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> cancer diagnosis.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Recently, I interviewed Antonio to discuss his research.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Problem\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cancer.ca\/en\/cancer-information\/diagnosis-and-treatment\/diagnosis\/?region=on#:~:text=Imaging%20tests%20create%20pictures%20of,if%20it%20contains%20cancer%20cells.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Imaging <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">technologies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> like the CT scan, ultrasound, X-ray, MRI, and PET scans allow doctors to identify cancerous masses in patients. Although<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">PET scans<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are a common way to diagnose cancer, researchers want to find ways to make <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nibib.nih.gov\/science-education\/science-topics\/nuclear-medicine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">tracers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> more efficiently. So, Antonio and his team aimed to develop a new kind of tracer and to make the synthetic process more efficient.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1379\" style=\"width: 378px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1379\" class=\"wp-image-1379\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/AcqScanner_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/AcqScanner_3.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/AcqScanner_3-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/AcqScanner_3-1024x749.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/AcqScanner_3-768x562.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/AcqScanner_3-800x585.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1379\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PET scan and technician, Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bccancer.bc.ca\/our-services\/services\/pet-functional-imaging\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.bccancer.bc.ca<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<h3><b>The Science\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since cancer cells divide quickly and uncontrollably, they require many more<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikibooks.org\/wiki\/AP_Biology\/The_Chemical_Building_Blocks_of_Life#:~:text=All%20life%20is%20composed%20mainly,%2C%20proteins%2C%20and%20nucleic%20acids.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cellular \u201cbuilding blocks&#8221;<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> compared to regular cells. Taking advantage of this, researchers have previously developed \u201ctagged\u201d versions of\u00a0 these building blocks, called tracers, which accumulate inside cancer cells. This allows doctors to see tumors in PET scan images. When I spoke to Antonio, he explained that the \u201cgolden standard\u201d for PET imaging uses<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> sugar molecule called glucose tagged with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4306521\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">radioactive fluoride atom<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mskcc.org\/cancer-care\/patient-education\/pet-ct-fdg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">FDG<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">) which is responsible for the glow on medical images. To see how tracers work, check out this video below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCIE 300 - SO PROJECT (Group #1)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lqrKwzyW-3Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Combining innovation and creativity, Antonio\u2019s team developed a more efficient way to make these tiny building blocks by using a careful mixture of chemicals. They used a molecule called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thymidine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">thymidine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> which is required for cell division, tagged it with a radioactive atom (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fluorine-18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">18<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">F), and injected into mice with cancer. The mice were then put into a PET scan to see if the building blocks were \u201cbuilding up\u201d inside the tumors, which would glow on the PET scan images.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1373\" style=\"width: 387px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1373\" class=\"wp-image-1373\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/chem-process-image.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"377\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/chem-process-image.png 547w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/files\/2021\/04\/chem-process-image-300x149.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 377px) 100vw, 377px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1373\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tracer synthesis, Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1039\/D0MD00054J\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Antonio&#8217;s Paper<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<h3><b>The Impact\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Antonio ran this study, he was an undergraduate student at UBC. As a result, his story has caught the attention of students on campus. After my interview with Antonio, my colleague Parwaz, a UBC student who runs a podcast called \u201cThinkin\u2019 a Latte\u201d, chatted with two other UBC undergraduates about the interview. Check out their podcast below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCIE 300 G1 Podcast- Thinkin&#039; a Latte by Teaya Cabael\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F1028129866&#038;show_artwork=true&#038;maxheight=750&#038;maxwidth=500&#038;secret_token=s-UZoNvSiikhZ\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although the study\u2019s findings are promising, using thymidine-based tracers for PET tumor imaging requires much more research before it can be used in clinics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI think the significance of this paper is not like \u2018look this is the next blockbuster drug that we&#8217;re trying to use\u2019, this is more like a proof of concept\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Antonio Wong<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nonetheless, cancer is a prevalent disease that has touched the lives of almost everyone and research like Antonio\u2019s is bringing much needed innovation and creativity to the field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Maya Bird\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Co-authors: Parwaz, Samin, and Teaya\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cutting-edge chemistry may be the key to fast and efficient cancer diagnoses. In early 2020, Antonio Wong and his research team at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, BC, developed a new way to synthesize radioactive tracers for &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/2021\/04\/13\/chemistry-for-cancer-new-radioactive-tracers-for-cancer-diagnosis\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48909,"featured_media":1382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,44,45],"tags":[299,81,304,305,307,306,93,48,302,303,309,311,308,62,300,301,310],"class_list":["post-1372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outreach-project","category-science-communication","category-science-in-the-news","tag-biomimetics","tag-cancer","tag-cancer-diagnosis","tag-cancer-diagnostics","tag-cancer-research","tag-chemical-synthesis","tag-chemistry","tag-innovation","tag-pet-scans","tag-positron-emission-tomography","tag-radioactive","tag-radioactive-tracers","tag-radioactivity","tag-research","tag-thymidine","tag-thymine","tag-tracers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1372"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1388,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions\/1388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience20t2w212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}