CageTag: Caged Tharanostics as a Universal Platform for Nuclear Medicine

Theranostics is a new approach in personalised medicine that is starting to have a major clinical impact. It typically uses two almost identical pharmaceuticals, one to diagnose and image disease, the other to treat. One branch of theranostics uses elements that emit radiation, meaning a theranostic pair can be obtained by simply switching a single atom. This works as some elements produce radioactive energy emission that can pass straight through the body and are well suited for diagnosis, using imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography, while others give off radioactive particles that are absorbed by the body and can be used to kill the diseased tissue (e.g. tumour).

The major difference compared to conventional external beam radiotherapy is that theranostics are selective as they recognise the specific tissue that is diseased such that healthy tissue damage is much lower. This leads to dramatically reduced side effects for patients. Using the corresponding imaging pharmaceutical can also allow treatment response to be accurately assessed meaning the ideal dose can be administered (i.e. enough to ensure that the tumour has been treated but without causing harm to the patient).

In this research, we will investigate a new way of transporting the radioactive element to the diseased tissue. This method uses a miniature cage that can house the radioactive element, so that when it is attached to a recognition part of the pharmaceutical the radiation is transported to the diseased tissue. Moreover, this miniature cage has been designed to lock in different elements so it is incredibly facile to switch between a diagnosis and therapeutic pharmaceutical. This will make the development of new personalised therapies that can target and treat different diseases much more accessible and reduce regulatory hurdles.