The Macmillan Cancer Centre, part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is celebrating the one year anniversary of the installation of the UK’s first fully integrated MR and PET scanner.
The scanner – the Siemens BiographTM mMR – is the latest advance in nuclear medicine and has been used for cancer, cardiac and neurology studies.
Research infrastructure provided by the BRC has enabled £1.6million of research activity on the scanner over 3 years as well as funding a dedicated MR/PET clinical scientist to work on the system.
Installed in 2012 to improve the understanding of cancer, as well as improve treatment pathways, the scanner has expanded horizons for research addressing priority diseases including heart attack, stroke and dementia.
There are 20 active research projects using the system which can unravel the pathological phenotype of individual patients. The scanner can image therapy response, signalling pathways and protein deposition, such as amyloid and tau.
Professor Ashley Groves, Head of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine at UCL and Academic Lead at the Department of Nuclear Medicine at University College Hospital said: “The Institute of Nuclear Medicine is at the forefront of clinical imaging; we were the first in the UK and fifth in the world for clinical PET-CT."
He continued: “The applications for the system are wide-ranging, from providing early diagnosis in dementia, individualised treatment in oncology to better understanding of a range of conditions such as myocardial disease. The overarching objective is to better understand, diagnose and address priority diseases including heart attack, stroke and dementia. The research has been groundbreaking in the way we have been able to better characterise individual tumours, enabling the most suitable treatment is provided and facilitating early detection. We look forward to witnessing the first clinical benefits of this research over the coming months.”
The combination of high quality MR imaging with simultaneous PET increases the power of both methods, enabling clinicians and researchers to monitor cell activity levels, potentially removing a requirement for two separate examinations.
The single seamless examination offers comprehensive diagnostic imaging for the delivery of critical information used in the early detection and effective staging of disease. The scanner also allows for the more precise alignment of MR and PET, beneficial in several applications including staging, prostate cancer imaging and evaluation of smaller lesions.
Dr Jamshed Bomanji, Clinical Lead at the Department of Nuclear Medicine at University College Hospital states “The Siemens Biograph mMR is a novel machine and prospective data is being acquired to establish its use. In our experience, there is potential for MR/PET to further refine staging. Monitoring treatment response in tumours and radiotherapy planning are also potential uses of MR/PET. MR/PET imaging may benefit patients with dementia and epilepsy. These prospective indications might have a significant effect on patient outcomes.”
The installation of the scanner at UCLH was made possible by a close collaboration between Siemens Healthcare and the BRC. “The Biograph mMR installation at UCLH was a landmark in innovation driving clinical work and oncology research in the UK,” states Peter Harrison, Managing Director UK at Siemens Healthcare. “The innovative MR/PET system delivers comprehensive diagnostic imaging that is critical during the early detection and staging process and we look forward to its discoveries and crucial steps towards the advancement of cancer research and care.”
