Researchers at the University of Calgary (UCalgary) in Canada are set to make use of nuclear adrenal imaging, specifically a technique known as CETO, to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of adrenal disorders.
This advancement could impact the management of conditions associated with adrenal gland tumours such as treatment-resistant hypertension. These glands are said to be present on the top of the kidneys.
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The CETO technique claims to offer a non-invasive screening approach for diagnosing and locating adrenal gland tumours.
Dr Gregory Kline and Dr Alex Leung, both from UCalgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, are the principal investigators spearheading this initiative of introducing CETO to the university.
Both of them obtained funding for the trial to broaden the diagnostic imaging technique.
Dr Kline, an endocrinologist and clinical professor, as well as the medical director of the Calgary Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Clinic, furthered his “expertise” in the CETO technique during a sabbatical at the UK’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
Kline said: “It’s quite different from the traditional computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The process involves an injection of a very short-lived compound that finds and sticks to the tumour, giving off a tiny radioactive signal which provides an image of the adrenal glands and tumour within.”
Dr Leung is an associate professor and endocrinologist and a member of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health.
The partnership with Addenbrooke’s Hospital has yielded positive outcomes, with the first subject in Calgary scanned, diagnosed, and treated using the CETO technique in late 2024.
This was made possible by a grant awarded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which is to provide funding for a Phase II trial over the next three years.
The trial will compare the precision of the CETO scan against the current standard of care, adrenal vein sampling, in detecting adrenal gland tumours.
Additionally, subjects’ experiences with the CETO scan will be evaluated.
In January 2025, UCalgary’s faculty of kinesiology in partnership with the Mira Hormone Monitor creators, announced the start of a validation study for the device, aiming to provide individuals with detailed hormone profiles.
