Speaker Biography

James Fontanesi

The ROAD Consortium, USA

Title: Radiation Therapy in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Dementia: Overview of the Rationale

James Fontanesi
Biography:

Dr Fontanesi has been in practice more than 25 years .He received his medical education from American University of the Caribbean and performed his internship at Ellis Fishell State Cancer Center in Missouri.  He completed his Therapeutic Radiology residency at St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center/West Coast Cancer Foundation.  He also completed a Brachytherapy fellowship at the University of California – Davis/Veterans Administration Hospital.

He was one of the initial investigators in the AD program at William Beaumont Health Systems. He has over 100 peer reviewed publications and book chapters to his credit and continues to do both basic and clinical research.

Abstract:

Radiation therapy has been used in the treatment of various non CNS amyloidosis. In peer reviewed article for sites such as lung , trachea , head and neck and renal , the use of low dose radiation has provided early and durable resolution of the amyloid related symptoms.
 
Our initial investigation of this potential began after we completed a review of adults who suffered from Downs Syndrome and who also had been diagnosed with ALL and had received PCI. We were unable to find any death certificate indicating AD as a cause of death although it is well known that up to 90% develop AD by time they reach 45 years.
 
Based on these facts we initiated a series of investigations , both basic science and animal studies to determine if low dose radiation might play a role in the treatment of AD.
 
We investigated amyloid plaque burden, Tau pathology development and neurocognitive testing. These results will be presented at this meeting.
The positive results we found has led us to the start of a Ph1 clinical trial that will initially evaluate 2 radiation dose sequences ( 5 x 200 cGy and 10 x 200 cGy ) to determine any side effects but also to define with Amyvid PET scans and neurocognitive testing the impact of this treatment. 
We will also present our idea’s regarding future studies including hypofractionated radiation regimens and targeted therapy.