# New tools for imaging and theranostics in inflammation and cancer

> **NIH NIH P41** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $251,800

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: TR&D 3
Others and we have shown that inflammation underlies the pathophysiology of a wide variety of disorders,
extending from neuropsychiatric disease to infection and cancer. Within the central nervous system (CNS),
neuro-inflammation is a contributing factor, if not the elemental process, behind such disparate entities as
cognitive impairment due to mild, repetitive traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, dementia due to
Alzheimer’s disease, HIV-related cognitive impairment and the neurological sequelae of Long Covid.
Nevertheless, quantitative, non-invasive and specific tools for measurement of neuro-inflammation remain
elusive. Specificity is required because inflammation may create or combat disease, depending on the cells
involved and their temporal appearance at the site of putative injury. In the periphery, inflammation plays a
similarly important role in promoting or fighting cancer. In the tumor microenvironment (TME) different
populations of cells, of which the innate and adaptive immune responses are comprised, enter and leave as part
of a continual struggle between the host and his/her malignancy. That balance has recently been tilted toward
the host in many cases, most notably through the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, they and other
immunotherapeutics, such as vaccines, antibody-drug conjugates and CAR T cells, are ineffective in the majority
of patients to whom they are administered, and can be associated with significant adverse effects. Better
understanding of inflammation in these varied contexts, i.e., the cells involved, when and to what extent, will
enable design of superior agents to support the salutary aspects and reprogramming of the TME, where needed.
Radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) is one way by which the TME might be reprogrammed. Because of the
[177Lu]PSMA-617 expanded access program in the US, sufficient data are accumulating to enable appropriate
patient selection, dosing regimens and prognosis for patients undergoing this effective new therapy for PSMA-
expressing cancers. Across four aims we will: (1) synthesize and test 18F-labeled agents for CSF1R; (2) test and
validate [18F]FNDP in preclinical models and patients with Long Covid, the latter in collaboration with CP2; (3)
develop a new “pan-cancer” theranostic targeting fibroblast activation protein (FAP) and prostate-specific
membrane antigen (PSMA); and, (4) use data from a clinically available PSMA theranostic to develop a program
to enable personalized radiopharmaceutical therapy and prognosis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10848985
- **Project number:** 2P41EB024495-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Sangeeta Ray
- **Activity code:** P41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $251,800
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10848985

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10848985, New tools for imaging and theranostics in inflammation and cancer (2P41EB024495-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10848985. Licensed CC0.

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