uTRACE®
Curasight's uTRACE® is a uPAR-PET imaging and diagnostics technology. It is used to find, visualise, and predict whether a cancer is aggressive and if so, how it should be treated. uTRACE® has been tested on over 400 patients in several cancer forms and proven to be safe.
uPAR – the target
uPAR – urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor – is a unique biomarker of cancer, as it expresses in cancer cells but not in normal tissue. uPAR is part of the system surrounding the breakdown of normal tissue, meaning part of the process that makes cancer spread and metastasise. It has been shown across most cancer forms, that if uPAR is highly expressed then the cancer is aggressive and needs treatment. These characteristics make uPAR an ideal target for cancer imaging followed by improved diagnosis, risk-stratification, and treatment monitoring. Both Curasight's uTRACE® and uTREAT® approach uPAR to find, visualise and treat cancer cells.
PET imaging
PET imaging – Positron Emission Tomography – is one of the fastest growing technologies in modern medicine and has truly revolutionised cancer medicine. It is a functional imaging technique that uses radioactive substances, known as radiotracers, to visualise and measure changes in metabolic processes and in other physiological activities. The substance used by Curasight's technology uTRACE® for imaging, targets and binds to uPAR, showing an enhanced image of the cancer.
The left side shows an MRI scan, where the white part in the centre shows a cancer tumour in this patients brain. The right side shows an image using Curasight'sTRACE® uPAR-PET imaging technology. The red area is where there is most activity, giving a more exact diagnose of the cancer and possibility to choose a treatment specific to this patient.
uPAR-PET
Very basically put, using the PET imaging technology to seek out and visualise the uPAR receptor is what Curasight's technology uTRACE® does. Not only finding but also visualising the cancer in an enhanced and intelligent way makes it possible to diagnose the cancer and decide on the best way to treat each individual patient.
uPAR-PET scan of a prostate cancer patient using the uTRACE® technology. To the left a CT scan. To the right the fused uPAR-PET scan has been fused with the CT scan. The red arrows point to the prostate gland/tumor. The high uptake on the uPAR-PET indicates that this may be an aggressive cancer.
