Early detection of diseases: uOttawa researchers develop new radiotracer to detect diseases, including cancer [Video]

A wide variety of diseases including cancers, as well as inflammation of the heart and brain can now be detected earlier by a new radiotracer developed by researchers at the University of Ottawa.

The new radiotracer is called [18F]4-FDF.) The university says it can map how cells use fructose for energy, and then identify where it’s being used in the body, paving the way for an earlier detection of diseases.

“The vast majority of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging systems map out how the body uses a radioactive form of glucose for energy. Since many cancers use glucose as metabolic fuel, they light up on glucose PET scans. However, not all cancers use glucose as fuel, and some normal organs, like the brain and heart, use high amounts of glucose too, making it difficult to identify some diseases from this type of diagnostic scan,” uOttawa said in a media release …