In collaboration with colleagues and the Alpha Tau company (USA/Israel), I have been involved with the use of a new cancer therapy using “Alpha DaRT” technology, which is based on small, extremely precise amounts of radioactive radium-224 that is inserted into the tumor itself. These atoms emit short-range alpha radiation that damages and kills cancer cells within a short period of time. All studies designed by my team are initially applied to my clinic and followed by multi-centre studies. Our initial study was with a low dose of DaRT for skin, head and neck cancer. Then we elevated the dose and have treated recurrent skin and head and neck. Presently we are leading a US FDA approval study for approval in skin, head and neck.
We performed animal model studies for glioblastoma multiforme and pancreas tumors and started a study in metastatic and local recurrent pancreas carcinoma. We recently submitted a paper regarding our initial 15 patients. Our next study is to add neoadjuvant DaRT treatment for all borderline resectable patients. Sequential trials in the US are planned. In the lab we have seen synergism between immunotherapy and Alpha DaRTtreatment. We are performing a combination study in recurrent head and neck and planning a similar study in pancreas tumors.
Significant publications include:
Popovtzer A, Mizrachi A, D’Andrea MA, VanderWalde NA, Kurman N, Rosenfeld E, Ben-Hur R, Bellia SR, Feliciani G, Silvern D, Sarnelli A, Ballo MT, Patra P, Cohen GN, Damato AL, Shkedy Y, Den RB, Barker CA, Charas T, Hirshoren N. Extended Follow-Up Outcomes from Pooled Prospective Studies Evaluating Efficacy of Interstitial Alpha Radionuclide Treatment for Skin and Head and Neck Cancers. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Jun 24;16(13):2312. Citations: 2.
Feliciani G, Bellia SR, Del Duca M, Mazzotti G, Monti M, Stanganelli I, Keisari Y, Kelson I, Popovtzer A, Romeo A, Sarnelli A. A New Approach for a Safe and Reproducible Seeds Positioning for Diffusing Alpha-Emitters Radiation Therapy of Squamous Cell Skin Cancer: A Feasibility Study. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jan 4;14(1):240. Citations: 7
Popovtzer A, Mizrachi A, D’Andrea MA, VanderWalde NA, Kurman N, Rosenfeld E, Ben-Hur R, Bellia SR, Feliciani G, Silvern D, Sarnelli A, Ballo MT, Patra P, Cohen GN, Damato AL, Shkedy Y, Den RB, Barker CA, Charas T, Hirshoren N. Extended Follow-Up Outcomes from Pooled Prospective Studies Evaluating Efficacy of Interstitial Alpha Radionuclide Treatment for Skin and Head and Neck Cancers. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Jun 24;16(13):2312. Citations: 2.
Popovtzer A, Mizrachi A, D’Andrea MA, VanderWalde NA, Kurman N, Rosenfeld E, Ben-Hur R, Bellia SR, Feliciani G, Silvern D, Sarnelli A, Ballo MT, Patra P, Cohen GN, Damato AL, Shkedy Y, Den RB, Barker CA, Charas T, Hirshoren N. Extended Follow-Up Outcomes from Pooled Prospective Studies Evaluating Efficacy of Interstitial Alpha Radionuclide Treatment for Skin and Head and Neck Cancers. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Jun 24;16(13):2312. Citations: 2.
Popovtzer A, Rosenfeld E, Mizrachi A, Bellia SR, Ben-Hur R, Feliciani G, Sarnelli A, Arazi L, Deutsch L, Kelson I, Keisari Y. Initial Safety and Tumor Control Results From a “First-in-Human” Multicenter Prospective Trial Evaluating a Novel Alpha-Emitting Radionuclide for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Skin and Head and Neck. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Mar 1;106(3):571-578. Citations: 46
Bellia SR, Feliciani G, Duca MD, Monti M, Turri V, Sarnelli A, Romeo A, Kelson I, Keisari Y, Popovtzer A, Ibrahim T, Paganelli G, Stanganelli I. Clinical Evidence of Abscopal Effect in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated with Diffusing Alpha Emitters Radiation Therapy: A Case Report. J Contemp Brachytherapy. 2019 Oct;11(5):449-457. Citations: 34
In collaboration with colleagues, I have conducted numerous studies to evaluate the capability of gold nanoparticles conjugated to antibodies to serve as radiosensitizers. I have evaluated toxicity, biodistribution efficacy and mechanisms in a mice model and also evaluated its capabilities to pass through the blood brain barrier.
Significant publications include:
Gal O, Betzer O, Rousso-Noori L, Sadan T, Motiei M, Nikitin M, Friedmann-Morvinski D, Popovtzer R, Popovtzer A. Antibody Delivery into the Brain by Radiosensitizer Nanoparticles for Targeted Glioblastoma Therapy. J Nanotheranostics. 2022 Sep 30;3(4):177-188. Citations: 84
Cohen O, Betzer O, Elmaliach-Pnini N, Motiei M, Sadan T, Cohen-Berkman, Dagan O, Popovtzer A, Yosepovich A, Barhom H, Michaeli S, Popovtzer R. ‘Golden’ exosomes as delivery vehicles to target tumors and overcome intratumoral barriers: in vivo tracking in a model for head and neck cancer. Biomater Sci. 2021 Mar 21;9(6):2103-2114. Citations: 41
Tzror-Azankot C, Betzer O, Sadan T, Motiei M, Rahimipour S, Atkins A, Popovtzer A, Popovtzer R. Glucose-Functionalized Liposomes for Reducing False Positives in Cancer Diagnosis. ACS Nano. 2021 Jan 26;15(1):1301-1309. Citations: 21
Davidi ES, Dreifuss T, Motiei M, Shai E, Bragilovski D, Lubimov L, Kindler MJJ, Popovtzer A, Don J, Popovtzer R. Cisplatin-conjugated gold nanoparticles as a theranostic agent for head and neck cancer. Head Neck. 2018 Jan;40(1):70-78. Citations: 83
Hazkani I, Motiei M, Betzer O, Sadan T, Bragilovski D, Lubimov L, Mizrachi A, Hadar T, Levi M, Ben-Aharon I, Haviv I, Popovtzer R, Popovtzer A. Can molecular profiling enhance radiotherapy? Impact of personalized targeted gold nanoparticles on radiosensitivity and imaging of adenoid cystic carcinoma. Theranostics. 2017 Sep 14;7(16):3962-3971. Citations: 28
Popovtzer A, Mizrachi A, Motiei M, Bragilovski D, Lubimov L, Levi M, Hilly O, Ben-Aharon I, Popovtzer R. Actively targeted gold nanoparticles as novel radiosensitizer agents: an in vivo head and neck cancer model. Nanoscale. 2016 Feb 7;8(5):2678-85. Citations: 107
Dreifuss T, Betzer O, Shilo M, Popovtzer A, Motiei M, Popovtzer R. A challenge for theranostics: is the optimal particle for therapy also optimal for diagnostics? Nanoscale. 2015 Oct 7;7(37):15175-84. Citations: 82