Carmen Bergom
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Medicine & Clinical Research
Radiation therapy is central to curing many lung cancers, but it can scar the lungs months later. This side effect is called radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis (RIPF).
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biomedical Engineering
Pharmacology
- Topics
radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis
lung fibrosis
lung cancer
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2031
What they work on
- Characterize the PET tracer [64Cu]Cu-DOTA-αvβ6-BP, which binds the scarring-linked integrin αvβ6, in mice given conventionally fractionated radiation, and identify blood biomarkers of radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis.
- Determine the in vivo toxicology of [64Cu]Cu-DOTA-αvβ6-BP in mice to support an exploratory Investigational New Drug application to the FDA.
- Conduct a first-in-human trial of αvβ6 PET imaging to determine safety and radiation dosimetry in lung cancer patients with CT evidence of radiation lung fibrosis and in healthy controls.
- Test whether the small-molecule integrin antagonist IDL-2965 mitigates or prevents radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis in preclinical mouse models.
More about the research
It affects up to 40% of treated patients and can cause shortness of breath, reduced lung function and respiratory failure. There are few ways to detect it early or treat it. The project aims to turn knowledge of what drives this scarring into new tools for both.
Why it matters
Lung cancer patients treated with radiation often develop lung scarring that has a poor outlook and limited treatment. A safe PET tracer for integrin αvβ6 could help doctors detect this scarring early. It could also be used to judge whether anti-scarring drugs are working. The integrin-blocking drug IDL-2965 could become a candidate for preventing radiation lung damage, pending further studies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Nashaat Turkman
Stony Brook University, NY·Neuroscience
Optimize and automate the radiosynthesis of [18F]NT311D, a radioactive tracer that binds class-IIa HDAC enzymes, and test it with PET imaging in rats.
Enrico Novelli
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine whether hemin, a toxic breakdown product of hemoglobin, and hypoxia (low oxygen) trigger VLA-4-driven blood-cell stickiness in sickle cell mice, measured by PET imaging with the tracer 64Cu-LLP2A.
Yong Huang
University of Virginia, VA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether reducing lung stretch by paralyzing one side of the diaphragm slows fibrosis progression in the outer and lower lung of mice with bleomycin-induced lung injury.
The school
Washington University in St Louis: 97 labs on PI Pages, $1.2B a year on research, 365 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.