SEMINARS
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Fall 2006
STATISTICS
COLLOQUIUM
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
3:30-4:00—Refreshments
4:00-5:00—Talk
Yost Hall, Room 101
David Dean, PhD
Department of Neurological Surgery
Case Western Reserve University
Diagnostic Imaging of Brain Tumor Photodynamic Therapy
The prognosis for patients with malignant glioma remains poor despite many years of investigation. We have demonstrated selective uptake of the silicon phthalocyanine photosensitizer Pc 4 in tumors derived from U87 cells (i.e., immortalized human glioma) implanted in the brains of athymic nude rats. In those rats we have found that Pc 4 photosensitizes these U87-derived brain tumors to 672-nm light. Applying sufficient 672-nm light results in tumor necrosis via a process referred to as Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). This PDT outcome has been documented by standard histology. However in deeply-seated tumors like glioma, it is not practical to take samples (i.e., tumor biopsy) to determine the tumor’s sensitivity to treatment and the treatment’s specificity (i.e., is necrosis limited to tumor). I will describe our study of 18F-FDG (fluorine-18 labeled 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of U87 tumors before and after PDT. I will also present other medical imaging modalities that might be useful for the non-invasive, and unambiguous, detection of the specificity and effectiveness of Pc 4-mediated brain tumor PDT.
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