The Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research is engaged in Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research. Chemical, biological and physical working groups work together to increase the knowledge in the scopes of Molecular Imaging and Tumor Therapy.

The institute’s activities are focussed on research and development towards radiolabelled compounds for the functional characterisation and therapy of tumors. Furthermore, computational methods for the quantitative characterisation of tumors by molecular imaging are developed. In particular, this includes mainly positron emission tomography and connected multimodal imaging techniques.

Radioactively labelled compounds enable diagnostics, i.e. detection and detailed molecular characterization, of tumors and metastasis by emission of photons from inner body areas. Moreover, compounds that emit high-energetic particles allow for the deposition of a radiation dose selectively at the site of the neoplastic tissues, which is particularly important for the eradication of metastasising tumors. In this regard, contextually relevant research towards the pathogenesis of neoplastic diseases is carried out, which includes the investigation of precancerous and inflammatory processes. Furthermore, the institute contributes to clinical translation of new findings by producing radiopharmaceuticals for clinical research and – to a limited extent – for special diagnostics of patients. These activities are supported by the development of new algorithms for the evaluation of tomographic data.

To this end, radioactively labelled compounds, i.e. radiotracers and radiotherapeutics as radioactive drugs, that specifically bind to neoplastic tissue of various tumors entities are developed. To achieve this goal, the discovery and production of appropriate radionuclides as well as the identification of compounds for specific tumors targeting and the application of radiolabelled substances within in-house and collaborative research projects are important prerequisites. Imaging techniques such as PET, magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) and computed tomography (CT) and their multimodal combinations are applied to characterise these compounds. In order to obtain quantitative data on the disposition and binding of substances from such investigations, the development of computational methods is an integral part of the institute’s research programme. Furthermore, molecular imaging is used for projects beyond tumor research. For example, this includes the characterisation of polymeric biomaterials as prosthetic scaffolds or mechanistic investigations into obesity.

The institute’s current research programme is dealing with the topics of PET and multimodal imaging, radionuclide therapeutics, radiopharmaceutical and chemical biology as well as radioimmunology. Main task of the department of radiopharmaceutical production is the reliable supply of the PET center with radiopharmaceuticals and the operation of the cyclotron for several research projects. An overview of the results of our research can be obtained by looking at the institute’s publication list.