Scientists in Australia are developing and testing in laboratory animals a potential new material for diagnosing malignant melanoma using PET.
Ivan Greguric and his colleagues are working within the Cooperative Research Consortium for Biomedical Imaging Development, an Australian government-funded research group, on a new group of radioactive imaging agents called fluoronicotinamides.
In their tests, the fluoronicotinamides revealed melanoma cells in laboratory mice with greater accuracy than imaging agents currently in use. As a result, this substance could become a superior PET imaging agent for improving diagnosis and monitoring the effectiveness of melanoma treatment.
Clinical trials with the new agent are scheduled for 2010.
Their study appears in the September 10 issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
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