Elisabeth Eppard

Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg

Dr. Elisabeth Eppard is a radiochemist working on the development and process implementation of new compounds for theranostic application. In 2013 she obtained her Ph.D. under Prof. Rösch at the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, where she worked on radiometal-based radiopharmaceuticals. After four years as a junior research group leader in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Bonn, Germany, Dr. Eppard joined Positronpharma SA, Santiago, Chile, as a senior scientist in 2018. There she was responsible for research and clinical applications based on 68Ga-, 44Sc-, and 177Lu-labelled theranostics. Since 2021, she has been a radiochemist in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Magdeburg, Germany, where she is continuing her research.

1books edited

2chapters authored

Latest work with IntechOpen by Elisabeth Eppard

In recent years, due to advancing technology and diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, medicine and health care have become more patient-oriented. This concept of personalized medicine or theranostics can be traced back to the beginnings of nuclear medicine when radioisotopes were uncovered as diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Nowadays, the field of theranostics is in flux, as new techniques and materials allow a growing range of applications beneficial for patients. This book examines new developments in theranostics and provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in this exciting discipline.

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Theranostics

Edited by Elisabeth Eppard

Chapters authored

Pre-Therapeutic Dosimetry Employing Scandium-44 for Radiolabeling PSMA-617

By Elisabeth Eppard

In recent years, the positron emitter scandium-44 moved into the focus of research providing favorable nuclide properties for an application in nuclear medicine. Radiolabeling of PSMA-617 with scandium-44 as diagnostic match for [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 instead of gallium-68 would enable pre-therapeutic dosimetry in clinical setting. Due to the chemical similarities of scandium and lutetium, the in vitro and in vivo characteristics of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 are more similar to [44Sc]Sc-PSMA-617 than to the 68Ga-compounds [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-617 or [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11. [44Sc]Sc-PSMA-617 showed its potential in a clinical setting as a PET imaging agent of prostate cancer providing several advantages over gallium-68 labeled tracers. The longer half-life of the nuclide would allow, for example, an optimized patient management and treatment, long-term or late time point imaging as well as transportation to more distant PET centers. However, especially clinical applications like individual dosimetry or intraoperative applications are still under investigation.

Part of the book: Prostatectomy

Gallium-68: Radiolabeling of Radiopharmaceuticals for PET Imaging - A Lot to Consider

By Michael Meisenheimer, Yury Saenko and Elisabeth Eppard

Gallium-68 was applied for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging already in the early beginnings of PET imaging. Today, with the introduction of PSMA-targeting tracers (e.g. PSMA-11, PSMA-617, and PSMA-I&T), the number of clinical applications of 68Ga-radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging has grown considerably. This development was initiated and supported already in the mid-2000s by the commercial availability of 68Ge/68Ga generators designed for clinical usage. This progression was accompanied by the development of several purification methods to generator eluate as well as sophisticated 68Ga-radiopharmaceuticals. Due to the 68Ga-rush, the need for implementation of gallium-68 (depending on production route) and its certain tracers into the pharmacopeia increased. Based on the specifications given by the pharmacopeia, interest focused on the development of automated synthesis systems, 99mTc-analog kits with regard to patient as well as operator safety.

Part of the book: Medical Isotopes

Elisabeth Eppard

Latest work with IntechOpen by Elisabeth Eppard

Theranostics

Chapters authored

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