Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), which is based in Villigen in the canton of Aargau, have developed a new therapy to combat metastatic neuroendocrine tumors. As detailed in a press release issued by PSI, this radiopharmaceutical has been successfully tested for the first time on patients at the University Hospital Basel (USB). This novel treatment approach involves the use of a substance labelled with the radioactive nuclide terbium-161. The treatment could be used for patients who are not, or perhaps no longer, responding adequately to other therapies. Neuroendocrine tumors represent a rare form of cancer that originates in the cells responsible for producing hormones. The radiopharmaceutical developed by PSI accumulates selectively in the tumor cells and is said to destroy them more effectively than existing treatment approaches.
The clinical trial carried out at USB was led by Damian Wild und Julia Fricke. During these tests, the irradiation of the tumor cells was proven to be nine times higher in comparison with the conventional standard treatments.
The highly promising results of the partnership between PSI and USB have been funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, which provided a grant to the tune of 800,000 Swiss francs.
