FLIC - Functional Ligands for Imaging in Cancer

磁共振成像（MRI）和正电子发射断层扫描（PET）是两种重要的成像方法，在癌症研究中的临床应用已经得到了很好的证实。临床仪器的最新进展使仪器的分辨率和灵敏度得到了提高。然而，目前在MRI和PET中使用的造影剂或显影剂对于21世纪正在部署的仪器来说并不有效。迫切需要设计、合成和验证改进的新型功能成像探针。为了开发这种癌症探针，需要一个多学科的团队，他们在合成化学和放射化学、临床前和临床成像科学以及癌症药物开发方面具有专业知识，并与癌症生物学的需求和愿望保持一致。在英国，目前没有一个单一的组织能够提供如此广泛的专业知识，因此，要在这一重要领域取得进展，形成一个多中心协作组织是必不可少的。拟议中的FLIC平台拨款将建立一个在化学、癌症成像和药物开发方面具有优势的合作团队，并在此过程中创建一个化学-生命科学界面，以解决个性化医疗的关键需求，生产具有真正实用价值的新化学实体，并适合商业开发。

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) are two essential imaging methods whose clinical application in cancer research is well established. Recent advances in clinical instrumentation have resulted in equipment with improved resolution and sensitivity. However, current contrast or imaging agents for use in MRI and PET are not as effective for the 21st century instrumentation now being deployed. The design, synthesis and validation of improved, new functional imaging probes is urgently needed. To develop such probes for cancer a multidisciplinary team is required with expertise in synthetic chemistry and radiochemistry, pre-clinical and clinical imaging sciences, and cancer drug development, working in harmony with the needs and aspirations of cancer biology. No single grouping in the UK can currently offer this range of expertise, and therefore to make progress in this important area the formation of a multi-centre collaborative grouping is essential. The proposed FLIC platform grant will establish a collaborative team with strengths in chemistry, cancer imaging and drug development, and in so doing create a chemistry-life science interface that will address a key need in personalised medicine, producing new chemical entities with genuine utility for healthcare and amenable to commercial exploitation.