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MAMMI<br />
Mammography with molecular imaging<br />
102<br />
Summary<br />
The proposed project focuses on the development of a PET<br />
prototype dedicated to the examination of breast cancer,<br />
using a gamma ray sensor based on an innovative design<br />
and the new generation of photo-detectors and scintillating<br />
crystals. The innovative features of the PEMT (Positron<br />
Emission MammoTomography) system we propose will<br />
imply a high resolution (pushed to the physical limit), higher<br />
sensitivity and lower cost. It includes integrated analogue<br />
and digital electronics through the design of an ASIC chip.<br />
The main application will be early breast cancer diagnosis<br />
and evaluation of chemotherapy response. New radio-tracer<br />
molecules will be searched for the detection and visualisation<br />
of the pharmacokinetics of breast tumours, more specifi c<br />
than glucose (FDG) for breast cancer, and based on human<br />
amino and fatty acids. Phase I Clinical trials will be performed<br />
with the new radio-tracers. A clinical multi-centric validation<br />
will be performed for the PEMT prototypes.<br />
Problem<br />
Keywords | PEMT | PET mammography | molecular imaging | breast cancer diagnosis | chemotherapy |<br />
Breast cancer is the most common non-skin cancer and the<br />
leading cause of cancer death in women. The best condition<br />
for successful breast cancer treatment is early detection.<br />
Some studies indicate that early breast cancer detection has<br />
reduced the disease mortality by about 29 %. The ability to<br />
defi ne the extent of disease, to monitor response, and to<br />
predict tumour behaviour in patients with breast cancer are<br />
therefore important public health problems.<br />
Conventional methods for breast cancer imaging like X-ray<br />
mammography, ultra-sound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging<br />
(MRI) produce morphologic and structural images, show<br />
lesions (like micro-calcifi cations), but not cancers. On the<br />
contrary, imaging methods based on Molecular Imaging<br />
show functional images, metabolism. This implies that they<br />
are much more sensitive and hence can be used to detect<br />
and locate malign tumours at an early stage. For instance,<br />
PET (Positron Emission Tomography) is a powerful tool for<br />
non-invasive molecular imaging diagnostic based on gamma<br />
ray (emitted by an isotope compound, previously<br />
administered to the patient) detection.<br />
Aim<br />
• Design and development of a dedicated low cost PET<br />
camera prototype for breast examination with an intrinsic<br />
resolution of less than 1 mm, high sensitivity, and tomographic<br />
3D reconstruction.<br />
• Study of new and more specifi c radio-pharmaceuticals for<br />
breast cancer detection and therapy monitoring (FLT, FAS,<br />
etc.). Perform phase I clinical trials of the radio-tracers.<br />
• Clinical multi-centric validation of the new PEMT prototype.<br />
Expected results<br />
MAMMI proposes a new PET device specifi cally designed for<br />
breast cancer diagnosis and evaluation of therapy response.<br />
The dedicated breast cancer PET camera will improve the<br />
position resolution of current whole-body PET cameras<br />
(about 5 mm) and will push it to the physical limit (slightly<br />
below 1 mm).<br />
The new detector design will also have the ability to detect<br />
the depth of interaction of the gamma ray interactions within<br />
the crystal with a resolution better than 3 mm. This is an<br />
essential feature since it allows for an improvement of the<br />
fi nal image resolution by almost eliminating the parallax<br />
error present in current PET detectors. This is essential in<br />
the case of breast examination since the detector cameras<br />
are placed close to the body, to increase the sensitivity.<br />
The advantages of the new generation of photo-detectors<br />
(silicon photo-multipliers), such as their compactness, will<br />
be explored. The design of the electronics, including an<br />
ASIC, will allow an acquisition rate capability of the order of<br />
1 MHz, with minimum dead time, to cope with the higher<br />
sensitivity.<br />
Moreover MAMMI will develop and study more specifi c than<br />
FDG radio-tracers for breast cancer diagnostic and therapy<br />
monitoring, based on human amino acids (such as FLT) and<br />
fatty acids (such as FAS).<br />
Potential applications<br />
The main application will be early breast cancer diagnosis<br />
and evaluation of chemotherapy response. New radio-tracer<br />
molecules will be searched for the detection and visualisation<br />
of the pharmacokinetics of breast tumours, more<br />
specifi c than glucose (FDG) for breast cancer, and based on<br />
human amino and fatty acids.<br />
CANCER RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDED UNDER THE SIXTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME
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