Radiopharmacology involves investigating the in vitro binding of radiotracers to specific receptors or enzymes and determining their in vivo pharmacokinetics, including how they move through the blood, organs and target tissues. MITC has the capabilities for these studies to be performed in one location, connecting radiochemistry, cellular evaluation, biodistribution, imaging and therapy research.

Why Radiopharmacology

Traditional chemotherapy treatments can affect healthy tissue as well as disease sites, contributing to side effects such as nausea and hair loss. At MITC, researchers develop radiopharmaceuticals designed to target tumors and diseased tissues more precisely. Therapeutic isotopes produced through MURR can be incorporated into directed radiopharmaceuticals intended to reach primary or metastatic tumor cells. Ideally, these targeted agents demonstrate strong uptake at the focal site of disease and clear from normal organs, supporting the goal of effective treatment with fewer off-target effects.

MITC researchers also can develop theranostic compounds that may be labeled with therapeutic isotopes for treatment or diagnostic radionuclides for imaging. This pairing of diagnosis and therapy allows investigators to evaluate whether a target is present, study how an agent behaves in the body and explore whether the same molecular approach can support both imaging and targeted therapy.

Our Work

Compounds are evaluated in vitro, typically using tumor cells grown in culture, to determine whether they have high affinity for specific proteins overexpressed on human cancer cells. Once agents show desirable binding characteristics, they are evaluated in vivo using mouse models of cancer or other diseases to understand how they clear from the blood, distribute into organs and accumulate in tumors. These in vivo studies may be performed through biodistribution analysis or by small-animal PET or SPECT imaging.