GLINT · Project

Cheaper Cancer Imaging Using Sugar Instead of Radioactive Tracers

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Doctors today often need radioactive tracers injected into your body to see how a tumour is feeding itself — it's expensive, involves radiation, and not every hospital can do it. The GLINT team figured out how to use plain glucose (sugar) and a modified MRI scanner to get similar information. Think of it like switching from an expensive dye to food colouring to highlight a stain. They tested this on real patients with head-and-neck tumours and brain cancers, showing it can reveal whether a tumour is growing, shrinking, or just pretending to respond to treatment.

By the numbers

7.6 million

cancer deaths worldwide in 2008 (WHO) — the scale of the problem this addresses

EUR 5,797,799

EU investment in developing this glucose-based cancer imaging technology

8 partners

organizations across 7 countries collaborating on this technology

total deliverables completed during the project

The business problem

What needed solving

Cancer treatment monitoring is expensive and limited. Current methods like PET-CT require radioactive tracers that are costly to produce, have short shelf lives, expose patients to radiation, and are only available at specialised centres. Doctors also struggle to tell whether a tumour is actually regrowing after treatment or just showing 'pseudo-progression' — a false alarm that can lead to unnecessary interventions.

The solution

What was built

The team built new MRI scanning sequences (both steady-state and dynamic) specifically designed for glucoCEST imaging, and validated them by scanning the first adult patient with head-and-neck tumours and gliomas. They delivered 27 outputs in total across the project, advancing glucose and 3-oxy-methyl-D-glucose from lab demonstrations to first clinical use.

Audience

Who needs this

MRI scanner manufacturers looking to add cancer imaging software features (Siemens Healthineers, Philips, GE Healthcare)Hospital radiology departments seeking cheaper alternatives to PET-CT for cancer monitoringPharmaceutical companies developing oncology drugs who need affordable imaging endpoints for clinical trialsDiagnostic tracer companies exploring non-radioactive alternativesCancer screening programme operators looking to expand access in underserved regions

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Medical imaging equipment

enterprise

Target: MRI scanner manufacturers and software vendors

If you are an MRI equipment manufacturer looking to differentiate your product line — this project developed ready-to-use steady-state and dynamic MRI sequences for glucoCEST imaging that can be integrated as a software upgrade. This gives hospitals a new cancer assessment capability without buying new hardware, creating a recurring software licensing revenue stream across your installed base of scanners.

Pharmaceutical and diagnostics

mid-size

Target: Companies developing contrast agents or diagnostic tracers

If you are a diagnostics company spending heavily on regulatory approval for radioactive tracers — this project demonstrated that native D-glucose and 3-oxy-methyl-D-glucose (3OMG) can serve as non-radioactive, non-metabolisable tracers for tumour imaging. These are cheap, widely available compounds that bypass the complex supply chain of PET tracers, potentially opening a new product category with far lower manufacturing costs.

Hospital networks and cancer centres

enterprise

Target: Oncology departments and radiology service providers

If you are a cancer centre struggling with the cost and limited availability of PET-CT scans for treatment monitoring — this project built a glucose-based MRI alternative that was tested on adult patients with head-and-neck tumours and gliomas. It offers a non-invasive way to differentiate between tumour regrowth and treatment effects, using existing MRI infrastructure and a simple sugar injection instead of radioactive materials.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

How much cheaper is this compared to current PET-CT cancer imaging?

The project objective states glucoCEST provides a 'cheap, widely available' alternative to nuclear medicine techniques. The tracers used are native D-glucose and 3-oxy-methyl-D-glucose — common compounds far less expensive than radioactive FDG tracers. However, specific per-scan cost savings are not quantified in the available project data.

Can this work on existing MRI scanners or does it need new equipment?

Based on available project data, the team developed 'up-to-date steady-state and dynamic MRI sequences for GlucoCEST' as a dedicated deliverable. This suggests the technology works as a software/sequence upgrade on existing MRI platforms rather than requiring entirely new hardware, though scanner compatibility specifics would need to be confirmed with the consortium.

What is the IP situation — can we license this technology?

The project was funded with EUR 5,797,799 under Horizon 2020 with 8 partners across 7 countries. IP from H2020 projects typically belongs to the consortium partners who generated it. University College London coordinated the project, and licensing discussions would likely start there. Specific patents filed are not detailed in the available data.

Has this actually been tested on real patients?

Yes. A key deliverable confirms 'Scanning of 1st adult patient for head-and-neck tumours and gliomas' was completed. This moves the technology beyond animal models into clinical validation, though it represents early-stage human testing rather than large-scale clinical trials.

Could this scale to routine hospital use?

The objective explicitly aims to provide a 'widely available' alternative to nuclear medicine. Since MRI scanners are already installed in most hospitals and glucose is universally available, the infrastructure barrier is low. The main scaling challenge would be regulatory approval for clinical use and training radiologists on the new sequences.

What types of cancer has this been validated for?

Based on project data, clinical testing covered head-and-neck tumours and gliomas (brain cancers). The EuroSciVoc classifications also reference breast cancer and prostate cancer as target areas. The underlying glucose metabolism mechanism is common across most solid tumours.

Are there regulatory hurdles for using sugar as a diagnostic agent?

Using native D-glucose for imaging may benefit from a simpler regulatory path than radioactive tracers, since glucose is already administered clinically (e.g., in glucose tolerance tests). However, 3-oxy-methyl-D-glucose (3OMG) as a diagnostic agent would likely require separate regulatory approval. Specific regulatory strategy details are not available in the project data.

Consortium

Who built it

The GLINT consortium brings together 8 partners from 7 countries (AT, CH, DE, FR, IL, IT, UK), led by University College London. The mix includes 4 universities, 2 research institutes, and 2 industry partners (25% industry ratio), with zero SMEs. The strong academic core reflects the clinical research nature of the work, while the 2 industrial partners suggest early commercial interest. The broad geographic spread across Europe and Israel indicates wide clinical validation potential. For a business looking to adopt or license this technology, UCL as coordinator is the primary entry point, with industrial partners likely holding complementary IP on implementation aspects.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDONCoordinator · UK
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINOparticipant · IT
EIBIR GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBH ZUR FORDERUNG DER ERFORSCHUNG DER BIOMEDIZINISCHEN BILDGEBUNGparticipant · AT
BRACCO IMAGING SPAparticipant · IT
TEL AVIV UNIVERSITYparticipant · IL
UNIVERSITAT ZURICHparticipant · CH
MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EVparticipant · DE

How to reach the team

University College London (UK) coordinated GLINT. Look for the principal investigator in the MRI/medical physics department. SciTransfer can identify and connect you with the right person.

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore licensing glucoCEST imaging sequences or integrating this into your MRI platform? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the GLINT research team and help structure a technology transfer discussion.

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