美国国立癌症研究院拨专款用于放射性核素研究

 美国研究人员最近收到了美国国立癌症研究院（the U.S. National Cancer Institute）一项为期五年四百七十万美元的拨款，用来研究生产、运输、以及使用放射性核酸检测癌症的新途径。

放射学、分子生物学、药理学和化学教授Michael Welch博士说：“许多科学家用于癌症研究的新研制的放射性核素供应短缺，或者很难获得，这已经引起了关注。我们当前的生产体系不能满足日益增长的需求。”

这项拨款允许华盛顿大学（St. Louis, MO, USA）的科学家寻找新核素的潜在用途，并确保这些药物以足够数量提供给研究者。拨款支持Biomed21三个重点领域中的两个：影像学和交叉学科研究。BioMed21是华盛顿大学医学院的一项提案：即将基础科学的进展尽可能快地用于患者的临床治疗。

为了寻找为临床医生提供更好的肿瘤影像资料，影像学科学家通常致力于研制有前途的新型放射性元素。对放射性核素的需求以及用于影像学核素种类都有了飞速增长，从而使生产出现了滞后。因为华盛顿大学的Mallinckrodt放射学研究所与其他几个大学拥有自己的小型回旋加速器，能够生产放射性核素的设施，Welch博士计划在这些大学建立一个生产网络以满足研究人员的需求。

Welch博士解释到：“做为这个网络运行的一个范例，我们目前生产放射性核素铜-64，并将其运输到遍布全美国的30多个研究院，并与至少7位研究者保持合作测试这些元素。我们希望开发这些工艺能够被用于其他医学研究中心，然后也许建立一系列的生产基地。”

Grant for Research on Radionuclides
 
U.S. researchers have recently received a five-year, U.S.$4.7 million grant from the U.S. National Cancer Institute to study new approaches to produce, distribute, and use radionuclides to detect tumors.

“There is concern that many newly developed radionuclides that scientists want to use for cancer research are in short supply and not readily available,” says Michael Welch, Ph.D., professor of radiology, molecular biology, and pharmacology and chemistry. “Our current system of production just is not able to keep up with demand.”

The grant will allow scientists from Washington University (St. Louis, MO, USA) to search for possible applications for new radionuclides and work to find ways for assuring that these agents are available to researchers in adequate quantities. The grant supports studies related to two of the three primary focus areas of Biomed21: imaging and interdisciplinary research. BioMed 21 is Washington University School of Medicine’s proposal to quickly bring advances in science to the patient’s bedside.

To find ways to give clinicians better images of tumors, imaging technology scientists typically develop new radioactive forms of elements with promising characteristics. Demand and the variety of imaging agents available have increased drastically, making it difficult to keep up with production. Because Washington University's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and several other universities have their own small cyclotrons, devices that can produce radionuclides, Dr. Welch plans to establish a production network among these universities to meet the investigators’ needs.

“As an example of how this network might operate, we’re currently producing a radionuclide known as copper-64, shipping it to over 30 institutions throughout the United States, and collaborating with at least seven investigators to test it,” explained Dr. Welch. “We’re hoping to develop these techniques in ways that can be transferred to other medical research centers, and then perhaps to begin setting up a series of production sites.”