Shmunis Family Innovation Awards in Cancer Therapeutics Awardee

August 2024

Corinne Beinat, PhD, MSc, assistant professor of radiology (molecular imaging program at Stanford), received a Shmunis Family Innovation Award in Cancer Therapeutics for her proposal, "77Br/18F-hGTS13: a theranostic for detection and targeted treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer." The focus of Beinat's research is on developing novel imaging and treatment strategies to detect and better manage cancer, using small molecule radiotracers and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer worldwide, with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounting for about 80% of cases. The protein xC- is expressed in various cancers including NSCLC. Beinat's group previously found that, in rats with NSCLC, a radiotracer compound called 18F-hGTS13 detects xC- and accumulates in NSCLC tumors but not in healthy tissues. With the support of the Shmunis Family Innovation Award in Cancer Therapeutics, Beinat will synthesize and test a related compound, 77Br-hGTS13, in which bromine replaces fluorine (77Br instead of 18F), turning the compound cytotoxic. She hypothesizes that the new compound will still accumulate in tumors that express xC-, but, in addition, will possess cell-destroying properties. Beinat will confirm that 77Br-hGTS13 accumulates in tumors and then test the ability of 77Br-hGTS13 to treat NSCLC in rats. The goal of the project is to translate these findings into the clinic, where combining 77Br- and 18F-hGTS13 could make it possible to both diagnose patients (by detecting the tumor) and treat them with minimal side effects (by delivering cytotoxic bromine directly to the tumor).