Research & Education
Research at The WA PET/Cyclotron Service
One of the major aims of the Service is the development of a wide-ranging clinical and basic science research programme to optimise the facilities and expertise available.
The research programme is structured into 3 major areas:
- Clinical PET
- New Radiopharmaceutical Development
- Solid Targetry
The facility has the benefit of 5 hot cells in a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) facility with a further research hot cell and radio-labelling fume hood situated within the radiopharmaceutical production laboratory. This area is equipped with state of the art quality control apparatus and further research laboratories are also available elsewhere in the facility. We have the benefit of two highly skilled radiochemists to help with not only routine commercial FDG production but also new radiopharmaceutical development.
The cyclotron facility is staffed with physicists and technicians trained
in PET and cyclotron technology from the Department of Medical Technology
and Physics This Department has the strong technical/engineering background
crucial to such areas as solid targetry development.
Within the PET Service there is also the availability for in depth data and
clinical trial management with staff having expertise in these areas as well
as experienced technologists and nursing staff.
Finally the facility has formal ties to the Western Australian Institute of Medical Research, The Western Australian Co-operative Oncology Group, The Western Biomedical Research Institute of Medical and the Institute of Radiochemical Engineering (IRE) with representatives from these groups being part of the Management Committee for the Service. Formal collaboration with the Cyclotron company, IBA (Ion Beam Applications) has begun. Further collaborations with the PET facilities around Australia are also envisaged.
Current Research Projects:
- Commonwealth Data Collection Process
- Demographic Data Collection
- Complex protocols of FDG PET in lymphoma, gastro-oesophageal cancer and sarcoma
- PET in atherosclerosis
- Pfizer CVL grant
- FDG-PET and recombinant TSH in thyroid cancer
- - part funding by Genzyme
- Development of C-11 methionine, F-18 FLT and F-18 fluorocholine
- Solid targetry development (I-123/I-124; Cu-62/Cu-64)
- SPN staging – both retrospective review and prospective clinical trials
- FDG-PET in restaging of breast cancer
- PET in the staging of lymphoma and sarcoma in paediatrics as compared to Gallium scans.
- F-18 Bone scans in Breast Cancer
Postgraduate Students:
- Solid target Synthesis of Iodine and Cu isotopes.
- Tc-96 for radioactive stents
- Neutron Dosimetry
Presentations and Publications
Presentations
2004
“Radioisotope and Radiopharmaceutical Production for Positron Emission Tomography, Post commissioning”
Presenter: Mr Thomas Tuchyna
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Wellington New Zealand
“Diazepam for "Muscle Activity" in FDG PET“
Dr Nat Lenzo, Dr Gerry Moschilla, Dr Petter Tonseth, Mrs Kerryn Butler-Henderson,
Ms Penny Maton
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Wellington New Zealand
“FDG PET in Pancreatic Lesions : Preliminary Findings”
Dr Nat Lenzo, Dr Petter Tonseth, Dr Michael McCarthy, Mrs Kerryn Butler-Henderson,
Ms Penny Maton.
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Wellington New Zealand
“FDG PET in Presumed early Non-small Cell Lung Cancer”
Dr Nat Lenzo, Dr Petter Tonseth, Dr Marina Dunne, Mrs Kerryn Butler-Henderson,
Mrs Julie Crouch
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Wellington New Zealand
2003
“Status report of a radioisotope and a radiopharmaceutical production facility for PET”
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Sydney
Presenter: Mr Thomas Tuchyna
“Establishing a PET service in a remote city of Australia”
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Sydney
Presenter: Mrs Julie Crouch
Posters
2004
”Occult Hepatic Neoplasms Detected by FDG PET”
Dr Nat Lenzo, Dr. Petter Tonseth, Mrs Julie Crouch
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Wellington New Zealand
“HMPAO SPECT, FDG PET and Anatomical Imaging in Patients with Linguistic Disorders”
Dr. Michael McCarthy, Dr. Andrew Campbell. Dr. Nat Lenzo, Ms Joanne Thompson,
Dr. Peter Panegyres
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Wellington New Zealand
“Automatic PET – CT Image Registration: Emission or Transmission”
Dr. M McCarthy, Dr. A Campbell, Dr, N Lenzo
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Wellington New Zealand
2003
“CT Negative Osseous Lymphoma – Benefit of FDG-PET”
ANZSNM Annual Scientific Meeting Sydney
Mrs. J. Crouch, Dr N.P. Lenzo, Dr. A. Patrikeos, Dr. P. Robins
Publications
2004
“Diffuse splenic metastasis from seminoma visualised by FDG PET.”
(American Journal of Roentgenology. 2004 Aug;183(2):525-7)
Authors: Dr N Lenzo, Dr Gerry Moschilla and Dr A Patrikeos
