A preclinical evaluation of a new ’dual-mode’ tracer agent shows promise in not only helping surgeons image and plan prostate cancer procedures, but also provide them with much more consistent and targeted guidance during surgery.
The agent uses a single tracer molecule labeled with Fluorine-18—a common isotope used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans—for diagnostic imaging. It also provides a one-step, widely accessible solution that would enable combined fluorescence-guided and radio-guided surgery.
“Our tracer provides high-resolution visual guidance, but would also allow a surgeon to use a hand-held Geiger counter probes to ‘hear’ areas of high radiation density that would accumulate in cancerous tissue not immediately visible—whether it's a lymph node, or distant metastasis, or local invasion in the like the bowel or the gut.” says Dr. David Perrin, a University of British Columbia chemist and senior author on the paper, published in advance in the Journal of Medical Chemistry. 
Dr. Perrin’s team and colleagues with the Department of Molecular Oncology at BC Cancer tested the tracer on mice with human tumours implanted in them. The next steps include Good Manufacturing Practices assessments, toxicity testing, and validation runs.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, about one in eight Canadian men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetime—one in 30 will die from it. Treatment often involves trade-offs between complete tumour removal and preserving critical structures like nerves, the seminal vesicle, bowel, and bladder, particularly in cases of advanced localized disease.
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Research Paper: Synthesis and Preclinical Evaluation of Dual-Mode Fluorescent F-PET Tracers Targeting PSMA
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