Ground-breaking innovation at Mizzou provides patients around the world with access to a lifesaving toolbox of vital pharmaceutical ingredients called radioisotopes produced at only one location in the United States — the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR).
Building off more than a half-century of momentum since MURR opened, two MU researchers, Carolyn Anderson and Heather Hennkens, are now leading the way to uncover the benefits of a promising new addition to the toolbox: a radioisotope known as terbium-161.
Radiopharmaceuticals contain a small amount of radioactive material. This radioactive “payload” is delivered to specific cancer cells by a “targeting molecule.” The result is a lethal blow to cancer cells.
“By delivering radioisotopes to the site of cancer cells, we can deposit a whole bunch of energy right where these cells are growing and cause DNA double-strand breaks,” said Anderson, director of MU’s Molecular Imaging and Theranostics Center (MITC) and the Simón-Ellebracht Professor in Medicinal Chemistry. “DNA is responsible for allowing cancer cells to multiply, and so if you break that, it will essentially kill the cells or stop them from multiplying.”
Adding to the toolbox
Personalized medicine is an increasingly popular and innovative approach in health care that tailors medical care to the specific cancer an individual is battling. Radiopharmaceuticals represent just one of the many exciting aspects of the future of that approach.
While Anderson and Hennkens are respectively in the early stages of their research with terbium-161 at MU, Anderson is excited for the possibilities once Hennkens begins to scale-up her research using the reactor at MURR. At that point, Anderson’s team will begin conducting efficacy studies for terbuium-161 in small animal models, which is the next step in the bench-to-bedside process.
Their end goal is to contribute to the development of a radiopharmaceutical with a targeted treatment method like Lutathera® or Pluvicto® that are approved for human use.
“Right now, this is one of the few places in the United States where we can do this type of research,” Anderson said. “With the resources at MU, including MURR, we are on the cutting edge of this research, and terbium-161 may be the next big radioisotope."
Photos by Abbie Lankitus and Sam O’Keefe
