Picture of Ronny Allan

Ronny Allan

Ronny Allan is a 3 x award-winning accredited patient leader advocating internationally for Neuroendocrine Cancer and all other cancer patients generally. Check out his Social Media accounts including Facebook, BlueSky, WhatsApp, Instagram and and X.

This should be of interest, particularly to Canadians. (Not to be confused with 18F-FDG which is a different scan).

For people waiting for imaging tests to diagnose neuroendocrine cancer, time is of the essence. Now, thanks to researchers at the University of Alberta, a new medical imaging agent for PET scans promises to reduce wait times, while costing less to produce and possibly revealing more of some types of cancer tumors.
 
Ralf Schirrmacher, an oncology imaging professor and member of the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta, and his team at the Medical Isotope and Cyclotron Facility on the U of A’s South Campus have been using a state-of-the-art cyclotron—a machine that already supplies the province with medical isotopes used in diagnostic scans—to create a new imaging compound that will reveal cancer tumors when patients receive a PET or PET-MRI scan.

The use of extremely low amounts of radioactive material as diagnostic “tracers” in cancer imaging is not new, but researchers are continually working on new chemistries to make these radiotracers safer, more reliable and more effective.
The new radiotracer, labeled with fluorine-18, is good at locating neuroendocrine tumors—cancerous tumors that can appear anywhere in the body but are most often found in the intestines, lungs, pancreas and stomach.

Reducing wait times takes time

Schirrmacher says fluorine-18 is an improvement compared with other currently used radioisotopes such as gallium-68. Radioactive gallium requires a special generator. In addition, there are often supply shortages and use of the gallium generator is restricted to a limited amount, which means only two to three patients a day can receive a medical scan.

“We are lucky, we have access to two AHS cyclotrons—one here at the U of A and one at the Cross Cancer Institute as well,” notes Schirrmacher, who is also a member of the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute. “We could make a batch in the morning and see 10 patients, so we could reduce the waiting time for patients substantially.”

Schirrmacher, a radiochemist, has been working on the compound since 2005, when he had the breakthrough idea shortly thereafter to combine radioactive fluorine with silicon. It was previously only combined with carbon.

“The radioactive peptides are labeled capitalizing on the very strong bond between silicon and fluorine. The chemistry works at room temperature, and purification only requires one simple extraction and the imaging agent is ready for injection—this is why it is so stable and reliable,” he explains.

Schirrmacher is now happy to see his team’s work go from the chemistry lab bench to the bedside as clinical trials involving more than 2,000 people in Germany have been completed and are starting in the Netherlands and France, as well as India.
He says the clinical trials in Germany are showing that the new compound may actually catch more cancer metastasis than other gallium-labeled compounds, which is especially important in followup treatment and determining whether cancer is spreading to other parts of the body.

Next steps in Canada mean applying for clinical trials which will go through the newly formed Alberta Radiopharmaceutical Center, a collaboration between Alberta Health Services and the U of A.

Schirrmacher notes that he will not license the chemical process of creating the new imaging agent, because he thinks it’s better that it is free for all to use so more people who may have cancer can get scanned sooner. “I can’t imagine how it feels having cancer or not knowing if you have cancer, and then having to wait to get diagnostic imaging,” he says.

Disclaimer

I am not a doctor or any form of medical professional, practitioner or counsellor. None of the information on my website, or linked to my website(s), or conveyed by me on any social media or presentation, should be interpreted as medical advice given or advised by me.  Neither should any post or comment made by a follower or member of my private group be assumed to be medical advice, even if that person is a healthcare professional as they are not members of the private group or followers of my sites in any official capacity.  Please also note that mention of a clinical service, trial/study or therapy does not constitute an endorsement of that service, trial/study or therapy by Ronny Allan, the information is provided for education and awareness purposes and/or related to Ronny Allan’s own patient experience. This element of the disclaimer includes any complementary medicine, non-prescription over the counter drugs and supplements such as vitamins and minerals.

General Clinical Trials Disclaimer

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided in the clinical trials document. It’s very important to check the trial inclusion and exclusion criteria before making any contact.  If you need questions, the articles here is very useful Questions to Ask About Clinical Trials | Cancer.Net

The inclusion of any trial within this blog should not be taken as a recommendation by Ronny Allan. 

 
 
Click here and answer all questions to join my private Facebook group
Top 10 Posts & Pages in the last 48 hours (auto updates)

Thanks for reading.

Ronny

I’m also active on Facebook. Like my page for even more news. Help me build up my new site here – click here and ‘Like’

Sign up for my newsletters – Click Here

Disclaimer

My Diagnosis and Treatment History

Follow me on twitter

Check out my online presentations

Check out my WEGO Health Awards

Like my new awareness page – click here or on the photo.  (Like rather than follow please!)

Check out my Glossary of Terms – click here

patients included

Please Share this post for Neuroendocrine Cancer awareness and to help another patient

 
 
 
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Email

I made it to 71!

October 30, 2026 No Comments

I started doing the “Piss off cancer” or “I made it” series when I got to 65, mainly because I initially thought I wouldn’t make

Read More »

Amneal Lanreotide Approved by US FDA

September 26, 2026 No Comments

  Amneal launches first CGT‑designated U.S. generic lanreotide — what NET patients need to know Amneal has launched the first Competitive Generic Therapy (CGT)‑designated U.S.

Read More »

Discover more from Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Our website use cookies to improve and personalize your experience and to display advertisements(if any). Our website may also include cookies from third parties like Google Adsense, Google Analytics, Youtube. By using the website, you consent to the use of cookies. We have updated our Privacy Policy. Please click on the button to check our Privacy Policy.
Ok, I Agree