Professor Norbert Avril
Research Interests
Professor Norbert Avril's main research themes are in: Imaging & Nuclear Medicine and PET & PET/CT
The main focus of my research is the use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in oncology. This is a form of scanning that detects specially, radiolabelled tracers that are injected into a patient and produces a 3-D image of functional processes within the body and allows the local metabolic activity to be assessed. This is particularly useful in cancer where, due to their unrestricted growth, tumour cells tend to have greater metabolic activity compared with the normal surrounding tissue, and so some radiolabelled tracers preferentially localise in and around the tumour. PET scans can, therefore, not only locate the tumour, but provide information on how active the tumour is. This means a comparison of PET scans before and after treatment is able to detect whether the treatment has reduced the metabolic activity of the tumour, or even eliminated it, which suggests that the tumour has been shrunk or killed by the treatment. Equally and, as importantly, this technique can also show when a treatment has had no effect, which means that, rather than perservering with something that will be ineffective, a prompt change can be made to a different treatment that could be more effective.
Of particular interest in our research are new clinically applicable molecular imaging strategies to optimise cancer treatments. Several clinical trials are currently underway using glucose metabolism (detected using [F18]Fluorodeoxiyglucose), cell proliferation (detected using [F-18]Fluorothymidine), and angiogenesis (new blood vessels growth, detected using [F18]Fluciclatide) as surrogate endpoints for assessment of early treatment effects and for prediction of therapeutic outcome. A preclinical research programme complements these clinical trials. Other research projects include the evaluation of time-of-flight PET, the optimisation of PET/CT imaging protocols and image analysis as well as the use of PET/CT for radiation treatment planning. In addition, we explore novel radionuclide based treatment approaches including radioimmunotherapy, radiopeptide therapy and radiolabelled microspheres.
Profile
- Training in Nuclear Medicine, Technische Universität München, Germany (1990-1995)
- Research Fellow, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Cornell University, New York, USA (1995-1997)
- Academic Nuclear Medicine Consultant, Technische Universität München, Germany (1998-2002)
- Chief Division of Nuclear Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA (2002-2005)
Funding
- PET/CT Imaging of Tumour Cell Proliferation for Monitoring Cancer Therapies. Barts and The London Charity. Principal Investigator. Funding: £499,687. 2010-2013.
- A Cancer Research UK Phase I Trial of Tc99m Demobesin for Imaging of Prostate Cancer. Cancer Research UK. Principal Investigator. Funding: CR-UK is providing administrative support and is sponsoring the required resources. 2009-2012.
- A multicenter trial to measure early patterns of change in [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose uptake by EPT/CT in relapse ovarian cancer patients. Merck Co-Investigator. Funding: £290,000. 2009-2011.
- Biomedical Research Unit in Cardiovascular Imaging. National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). Co-Applicant. Funding: £5.350.000. 2008-2012.
- Prediction of the treatment response by FDG-PET/CT and FLT-PET/CT in patients with relapsed/refractory Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, U.S.A. Scientific-Investigator. Funding: US $300.000. 2009¬-2012.
- Imaging Tumour Response Following Gene Therapy. Barts and The London Charity. Principal Investigator. Funding: £99.928. 2006-2010.
Key Publications
Schwarz-Dose J, Tiling R, Sassen S, Mahner S, Lebeau A, Christoph W, Schwaiger M, Jaenicke F, Untch M, Avril N. Assessment of Residual Tumor by FDG-PET, Conventional Imaging and Clinical Examination Following Primary Chemotherapy of Large and Locally Advanced Breast Cancer. Br J Cancer 102:35-41, 2010, PMID: 19920815
Murray I, Kalemis A, Glennon J, Hasan S, Quraishi S, Beyer T, Avril N. Time-of-flight PET/CT using low activity protocols: potential implications for cancer therapy monitoring. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 37:1643-53, 2010, PMID: 20428866
Barwick T, Murray I, Megadmi H, Drake WM, P. Plowman N, Akker SA, Chew SI,. Grossman AB, Avril N. SPECT/CT using Iodine-123 in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer - additional value over whole body planar imaging and SPECT. Eur J Endocrinol. 162:1131-9, 2010, PMID: 20212015
Barwick T, Bencherif B, Mountz J, Avril N. Molecular PET and PET/CT Imaging of Tumour Cell Proliferation using F-18 Fluoro-L-thymidine (FLT): A Comprehensive Evaluation. Nucl Med Commun. 30:908-17, 2009, PMID: 19794320
Further Publications
For additional publications, please click here.
Research Group
Preclinical Imaging:
- Dr. Chantelle Hudson
- Dr. Julie Foster
Clinical Imaging:
- Dr. Teresa Szyszko
- Dr. Inas El-Najjar
- Iain Murray (Clinical Scientist)
- Brenda Elliot (Research Technologist)
- Nish Fernando (Lead Technologist)
- Sonya Mash (Research Nurse)
- Chris Rubery (Clinical trial Coordinator)
External Activities
Member Editorial Board:
- Molecular Imaging and Biology (Associate Editor)
- BMC Medical Physics (Editor)
- The Journal of Nuclear Medicine
- Nuclear Medicine Communications
