- Precision medicine is possible with theranostics, a combination of nuclear medicine therapeutics and diagnostics.
- Theranostics use PET scans to find specific proteins on tumors, followed by targeted treatment that destroys only the cancer cells.
- Carilion Clinic is leading the U.S. in an international clinical trial studying theranostics for hard-to-treat cancers.
The history of cancer research has resulted in steady improvements in diagnostics, treatments and outcomes for patients throughout the decades.
With the advent of molecular biology, however, researchers are looking beyond the size or activity of a tumor to the components of their cells and the interactions between and among them—and finding ways to target the components causing the disease.
The result is called “precision medicine,” the development of treatments that destroy cancer cells without damaging a patient’s healthy tissues or organs the way conventional systemic chemotherapies do.
“Groundbreaking” Research
With a new international clinical trial of “theranostics”—a combination of nuclear medicine therapeutics and diagnostics—the Australia-headquartered precision medicine company Telix Pharmaceuticals is taking it a step further.
Bill Kiser, M.D., diagnostic radiologist and chief of Molecular Imaging at Carilion Clinic, is the primary investigator for the STARBURST theranostics trial in the U.S. and Carilion Clinic has enrolled the trial’s first patient.
“This is potentially groundbreaking stuff,” said Dr. Kiser.
The trial is testing an investigational PET scan imaging agent developed by Telix, TLX250-CDx, to find out if it can be used to diagnose cancers that are known to carry CAIX, a protein receptor found in several solid tumors.
Dr. Kiser described the connection between cancer cell receptors and targeted theranostic agents as “a lock and key kind of thing.”
For cancer patients, that could mean treatments with fewer unpleasant or debilitating side effects.
And for patients with hard-to-treat cancers, it can mean even more.
Telix has already seen positive results with certain kidney, breast and bladder cancers. TLX250-CDx was the subject of their global phase 3 ZIRCON study in clear cell renal cell carcinoma—the most common and aggressive form of kidney cancer—which reported highly positive results in November 2022.
The STARBURST trial focuses on solid tumors in a broader range of cancers:
- Breast
- Cervical
- Colorectal
- Gastric
- Esophageal
- Head and neck
- Lung
- Ovarian
- Pancreatic
- Vulvar
“Many of these cancers that we're trying to image are very difficult to treat,” said Dr. Kiser. “We're hoping that these … have this receptor and therefore we might have a treatment for these patients."
Partnering for Patients
The STARBURST trial is just one example of Carilion’s commitment to collaboration with innovative industry partners and, in this case, our well-established partnership with Blue Ridge Cancer Care (BRCC).
That collaboration results in a seamless connection for patients between their BRCC care team and the surgical, diagnostic and treatment experts at Carilion Clinic.
See our partnership with BRCC in action in "Why Not Me? Early Detection and Breast Cancer."
BRCC’s role in the STARBURST trial is to refer patients to Carilion Clinic who may be eligible to participate.
“If we can identify that a cancer has that receptor, then we can trade out the radioactive material from taking pictures to treatment,” said Dr. Kiser. “This might give these patients another option to prolong their life and maybe even cure them. I'm very honored to have been chosen to be the principal investigator for the entire research project in this country.”
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*TLX250-CDx is a Telix Pharmaceuticals investigational product, which has not received a marketing authorization in any jurisdiction. Views are the investigator's own.
