FLIC - Functional Ligands for Imaging in Cancer

磁共振成像(MRI)和正电子发射断层扫描(PET)是两种基本的成像方法，它们在肿瘤研究中的临床应用已经很成熟。临床仪器的最新进展导致设备具有更高的分辨率和灵敏度。然而，目前用于核磁共振和正电子发射计算机断层扫描的对比剂或成像剂对于正在部署的21世纪仪器来说并不是那么有效。迫切需要设计、合成和验证改进的、新的功能成像探针。为了开发这样的癌症探测器，需要一个拥有合成化学和放射化学、临床前和临床成像科学以及抗癌药物开发方面的专业知识的多学科团队，与癌症生物学的需求和愿望相协调。目前，英国没有一个单一的小组能够提供这种范围的专门知识，因此，要在这一重要领域取得进展，形成一个多中心合作小组是必不可少的。拟议的PLIC平台赠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，并通过这样做创建一个化学-生命科学接口，以满足个性化医学的关键需求，生产出对医疗保健提供者具有真正实用价值并易于商业开发的新化学实体。

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 providers and amenable to commercial exploitation.