Wen Ping Li, Ph.D.

DEPARTMENT OF Radiology
Keywords: matrix metalloproteinases, PET, somatostatin, metastasis

Dr Li’s recent research interest has been focused on the development of radiolabeled inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases for cancer imaging and therapy by using positron emission tomography (PET). The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc-dependent proteinases involved in the degradation of the extracellular matrix. MMPs have been implicated in the process of tumor growth, invasion and metastasis, and their overexpression in various types of tumors is often correlated with an adverse prognosis in patients with cancer. The ability to image MMP activity in tumors may provide a noninvasive means of determining whether certain types of cancer have metastatic potential. The information provided by such a noninvasive molecular marker would also aid in determining optimal cancer treatment planning, since determination of a tumor’s metastatic potential could suggest the tumor will respond to MMP inhibitors as cancer therapy. The agents being studied are ⁶⁴Cu (positron emitter)-labeled MMP inhibitor conjugates for imaging various types of tumor.

Dr. Li also is interested in development of somatostatin analogs radiolabeled with ⁷⁶Br and ¹²⁴I for PET imaging.