SCK CEN

🎗 United in the fight against cancer At SCK CEN, the yellow ribbon represents more than solidarity. It stands for every colleague who contributes, in their own way, to the fight against cancer. Today, the ribbon shines throughout our organization: in research labs, offices, workshops and support teams. Not everyone works directly on cancer research, but each person plays a role in making our mission possible. Because behind every experiment, every calculation, and every decision lies the same motivation: improving lives through science. 📸 Take a look at our photos and meet the people who contribute every day. Together, we wear the yellow ribbon proudly as a symbol of unity, compassion, and shared purpose. #DagTegenKanker #TogetherForImpact #KomOpTegenKanker #SCKCEN #Science

🎗 In Belgium, more than 80,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. That’s an average of 219 diagnoses per day, more than nine per hour. Behind each number is a personal story: a person, a family, and a future suddenly turned upside down. Today marks the 26th edition of #DagTegenKanker (Day Against Cancer). Across Flanders, people wear a yellow ribbon as a sign of solidarity. At SCK CEN, we also wear the ribbon visibly on our chest as a symbol of support, but also as a representation of our daily commitment to strengthening the fight against cancer. We do this in three ways: 1️⃣ Production of medical radioisotopes – We play a key role worldwide with our BR2 research reactor and, in the future, our CRF facility. 2️⃣ Preclinical research on radioligand therapy – We enhance the precision and effectiveness of radiopharmaceuticals. 3️⃣ Dialogue with society – We listen to patients, doctors, and policymakers to make our research more relevant and impactful. 📹 Watch our video to see how a yellow ribbon connects our many links of science, solidarity, and daily effort in the fight against cancer. 🤝 Interested in collaborating or becoming a partner in our research? Get in touch to discover how we can make an impact together.

🤝 Last week, we welcomed the members of the Steering Committee of the EAGLES Consortium to our site. Vincent Schryvers, Deputy Project Director: “The EAGLES Consortium visited SCK CEN’s world-leading R&D facilities for lead-cooled reactor technology. Great to see the consortium starting off on the right foot!” Together with Ansaldo Nucleare, ENEA and. Regia Autonomă Tehnologii pentru Energia Nucleară.

🎗️🛡️ #EANM 2025 – Take-away #5 At #EANM, Clarita Saldarriaga Vargas shed light on a critical challenge in radioligand therapy: dosimetry methods to untangle the complexities of kidney toxicity. The kidneys play a vital role in clearing radioactive substances from the body, but this also makes them vulnerable to radiation exposure. To protect patients, it is important to understand how radiation affects the kidney’s internal structures. 📣 “The way radiopharmaceuticals distribute within the fine structures of kidney tissue plays a crucial role in determining toxicity. However, accurately mapping this distribution is highly challenging. To address this, we developed a preclinical multi-scale dosimetry approach that aims to link microscopic distribution, absorbed dose, and tissue response. This framework offers a new toolkit to investigate kidney toxicity. It should deepen our understanding of how kidney injury occurs and, in time, guide the development of cancer therapies with improved safety profiles for patients”, says Clarita Saldarriaga Vargas. #radioligandtherapy #radiopharmaceuticals #dosimetry #theranostics #kidney - European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)

🎗️🔍 #EANM 2025 – Take-away #4 During her presentation at EANM 2025, Michelle Andersson zoomed in on nephron substructures in the kidney and compared the exposure to lutetium versus terbium. 👀 Kidneys help excrete radioactivity but are also exposed to it, making them organs at risk. Understanding substructure-level effects is key to preventing renal damage and improving patient safety in radioligand therapy. 💬 “We discovered that [161Tb]Tb-DOTA-TATE results in more heterogeneous absorbed dose distribution in murine kidneys than [177Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE – particularly in the proximal tubules, due to its emission of internal conversion and Auger electrons. As both radionuclides show a similar sub-organ biodistribution, these findings highlight critical nephron substructure-specific differences between radionuclides and underscore the importance of nephron substructure-level dosimetry”, concludes Michelle Andersson. Michelle provides a methodology supporting detailed investigation of absorbed dose-effect relationships to eventually better understand and mitigate renal toxicity. #radioligandtherapy #radiopharmaceuticals #dosimetry #theranostics #kidney - European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)

🎗️🔬 #EANM 2025 – Take-away #3 At #EANM, Camille Van Laere shared preclinical results on a novel CA IX-targeted radionuclide therapy using [¹⁶¹Tb] – Tb-DPI-4452 – to treat pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). 💬 “PDAC is the most common pancreatic cancer, responsible for over 90% of all cases. With a five-year survival rate below 12%, new treatments are urgently needed. In this research, we explore a novel approach by targeting CA IX – a protein highly expressed in PDAC tumours”, says Camille Van Laere. The preclinical data are promising, as they demonstrate: 🔗 Strong affinity 🎯High specificity 🧬 Favourable tumour penetration Many thanks to the co-authors for their dedication in step-by-step uncovering the potential of CA IX targeted radioligand therapy in PDAC: Charlotte Segers, Amelie Coolkens, Dewilde Maarten, Frederik Cleeren, Maarten Ooms #radioligandtherapy #radiopharmaceuticals #pancreaticcancer #innovation - European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)

🎗️⚛️ #EANM 2025 – Take-away #2 Understanding radiopharmaceutical behaviour in the body just got sharper thanks to Justine’s newly developed PBPK* model, presented at #EANM2025. 💬 “We integrated preclinical biodistribution data into a PBPK* modeling framework. This model confirmed that [161Tb]Tb-DOTA-TATE and [177Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE share a similar pharmacokinetic profile. It also shows strong potential for generalization across DOTA-TATE–based radiopharmaceuticals, successfully extending to ⁶⁸Ga and others”, says Justine Henriot. *PBPK: physiologically-based pharmacokinetic 🚀 These insights guide radiopharmaceutical development and brings us closer to personalized cancer care. Many thanks to the co-authors who helped shape these findings: Lara Struelens, Michelle Andersson, Sunay Rodriguez Pérez, Michel Koole, and Clarita Saldarriaga Vargas. #radioligandtherapy #radiopharmaceuticals #dosimetry #PBPK - European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)

🎗️🧬 #EANM 2025 – Take-away #1 During her presentation, Sara Van Mechelen showcased the added value of dimeric compounds in FAP-targeted radioligand therapy for ovarian cancer. FAP targeting is a promising strategy in ovarian cancer, but current monomeric compounds like FAPI-46 suffer from limited tumor retention. Dimeric compounds have two binding sites, allowing them to overcome this limitation. 🧲 Think of it as using two magnets instead of one for a firmer grip. 💬 “Within the Innovative Health Initiative project Thera4Care, we demonstrate that the dimeric radioligand [¹⁶¹Tb]Tb-DOTAGA.Glu.(FAPI)₂ can achieve significantly stronger tumor-specific binding in ovarian cancer models. Combined with the emission properties of terbium-161, this next-generation radioligand holds game-changing potential to strengthen radiotheranostic strategies for ovarian cancer and other FAP-positive tumors”, explains Sara Van Mechelen. #radioligandtherapy #radiopharmaceuticals #ovariancancer #Thera4Care #innovation - European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)

📍 First day at #EANM25 in Barcelona! We’re thrilled to kick off the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) conference and connect with you in person. Meet us at booth 25. Our experts are ready to show how SCK CEN offers a perfect breeding ground for radiopharmaceutical R&D, combining multi-disciplinary research expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, direct access to radioisotopes and strategic partnerships. 🤝 Could a partnership with you be next? Come and talk to us. Let’s explore how we can advance radioligand therapy together. #nuclearmedicine #radiopharmaceuticals #cancerresearch #SCKCEN #Barcelona #partnerships