Department of Radiology

The Naga Vara Kishore Pillarsetty Lab

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Research

Naga Vara Kishore Pillarsetty, PhD

Targeted Theranostics Laboratory

Molecularly targeted therapy modulates a dysregulated target(s) and/or biologic pathway(s) that provides survival advantage for cancer cells. This targeting enables achieve selective destruction of cancer cells while minimizing harm to normal cells. We work on the development and clinical translation of molecular imaging and therapeutic agents that can 1) identify dysregulated pathways noninvasively; 2) serve as prognostic indicators of response and/or monitor response to therapy; 3) aid in understanding drug pharmacokinetics; and 4) take advantage of target overexpression to develop companion radiotherapeutics. The molecular imaging agent can be a small molecule, peptide, antibody, or a nanoparticle and conjugated to a radioactive or optically active or therapeutic payload depending on the intended application. We have leveraged targets such as PSMA, epichaperome, PARP, NaV1.7, and GLP1R to develop targeted theranostics. By collaborating with other laboratories and clinicians at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, we have been able to translate several molecular imaging agents for first-in-human studies;  These include epichaperome-specific PET probes [124I]-PU-H71 (Pillarsetty et al. 2019, NCT01269593, NCT01393509) and [124I]-PU-AD (Bolaender et al. 2021, NCT03371420), PARP-specific fluorescent intraoperative probe PARPi-FL (Kossatz et al 2020, NCT03085147), and several other PET probes that have entered clinical trials at MSKCC. In addition, we are actively exploring new targets that include mucins, ATM, ATR, DLL3 etc. to develop novel targeted theranostics.

The Pillarsetty Lab Group

Publications

Kalidindi TM, Lee SG, Jou K, Chakraborty G, Skafida M, Tagawa ST, Bander NH, Schoder H, Bodei L, Pandit-Taskar N, Lewis JS, Larson SM, Osborne JR, Pillarsetty NVK. A simple strategy to reduce the salivary gland and kidney uptake of PSMA-targeting small molecule radiopharmaceuticals. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Jul;48(8):2642-2651. doi: 10.1007/s00259-020-05150-w. Epub 2021 Jan 25.

Pillarsetty N, Jhaveri K, Taldone T, Caldas-Lopes E, Punzalan B, Joshi S, Bolaender A, Uddin MM, Rodina A, Yan P, Ku A, Ku T, Shah SK, Lyashchenko S, Burnazi E, Wang T, Lecomte N, Janjigian Y, Younes A, Batlevi CW, Guzman ML, Roboz GJ, Koziorowski J, Zanzonico P, Alpaugh ML, Corben A, Modi S, Norton L, Larson SM, Lewis JS, Chiosis G, Gerecitano JF, Dunphy MPS. Paradigms for Precision Medicine in Epichaperome Cancer Therapy. Cancer Cell. 2019 Nov 11;36(5):559-573.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2019.09.007. Epub 2019 Oct 24. PMCID: PMC6996250.

Gangangari KK, Humm JL, Larson SM, Pillarsetty NVK. TMSOTf assisted synthesis of 2’-deoxy-2’-[18F]fluoro-β-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine ([18F]FAC). PLoS One. 2018 May 1;13(5):e0196784. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196784. PMCID: PMC5929562.

Carney B, Kossatz S, Lok BH, Schneeberger V, Gangangari KK, Pillarsetty NVK, Weber WA, Rudin CM, Poirier JT, Reiner T. Target engagement imaging of PARP inhibitors in small-cell lung cancer. Nat Commun. 2018 Jan 12;9(1):176. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02096-w. PMCID: PMC5766608.

Dunphy MPS, Pressl C, Pillarsetty N, Grkovski M, Modi S, Jhaveri K, Norton L, Beattie BJ, Zanzonico PB, Zatorska D, Taldone T, Ochiana SO, Uddin MM, Burnazi EM, Lyashchenko SK, Hudis CA, Bromberg J, Schöder HM, Fox JJ, Zhang H, Chiosis G, Lewis JS, Larson SM. First-in-Human Trial of Epichaperome-Targeted PET in Patients with Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2020 Oct 1;26(19):5178-5187. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-3704. Epub 2020 May 4. PMCID: PMC7541604.

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People

Nagavara-Kishore Pillarsetty

Naga Vara Kishore Pillarsetty, PhD

  • The Pillarsetty Laboratory develops bioactive radiopharmaceuticals and fluorophores for molecular characterization and targeted treatment of cancer.

Members

Dauren Adilbay
Dauren Adilbay

Visiting Investigator

Raik Artschwager
Raik Artschwager

Research Scholar

Paula Demetrio De Souza Franca
Paula Demetrio De Souza Franca

Senior Research Scientist

Arvind Dev
Arvind Dev
Kevin Fisher
Kevin Fisher

Senior Administrative Assistant

Junior Gonzales
Junior Gonzales

Research Associate

Julia Gutierrez
Julia Gutierrez

Research Intern

Delissa S. Johnson
Delissa S. Johnson

Research Technician

Teja Kalidindi
Teja Kalidindi

Research Assistant

Mayuresh M. Mane

Research Technician

Alexa L. Michel
Alexa L. Michel

Research Technician

Kaitlin Rhee
Kaitlin Rhee

MISP Summer Fellow

Sheryl Roberts
Sheryl Roberts

Research Associate

Tara Viray
Tara Viray

Research Technician

Lab Affiliations

Open Positions

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