Boston Researchers Advance Toward Diagnosing CTE in Living Patients, Enlisting Former NFL Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck

Former NFL and Boston College quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is lending his brain to science, undergoing two days of comprehensive evaluation at the Boston University CTE Center (搜索)搜索该词条 as part of a multi-state effort to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (搜索)搜索该疾病 (CTE) in living patients. "I feel a little bit like a guinea pig today, but that's quite alright," Hasselbeck said.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease linked to concussions and other head trauma common in military combat and contact sports. It has been diagnosed in more than 100 former NFL players, casting a pall over the United States' most popular sports league. High-profile players diagnosed with CTE after their deaths include Hall of Famers Junior Seau and Ken Stabler, along with former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. Currently, CTE can only be diagnosed after death.

The DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project

A major step forward on the research side is DIAGNOSE CTE, a multi-state research project that started in 2015 and is now in its second phase. The project is led by Dr. Michael Alosco, co-director of clinical research at the Boston University CTE Center (搜索)搜索该词条 and principal investigator in Boston. Additional sites are located in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida, with potentially more to come.

"Once we can detect this disease early, we can then start to intervene," Alosco said. "We learned a lot about what a brain might look like on an MRI scan in the first version. As we are entering the second version, one of the things we are really interested in is how can we now look at things like the blood, or other types of imaging techniques to get even more accurate in our detection and diagnoses, but also more accessible."

Across the five sites involved in the study, hundreds of people at risk for CTE are evaluated. Some of these people have symptoms, while others are asymptomatic. The study seeks two types of participants: those who played professional or college football, and those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (搜索)搜索该疾病 and never played contact or collision sports with no history of repetitive head impacts.

Distinguishing CTE from Alzheimer's Disease

Alosco noted there are many similarities between Alzheimer's and CTE because both are degenerative brain diseases, but there are also key differences, and mapping out those discrepancies is central to diagnosing CTE properly.

"We've applied what we've known worked for Alzheimer's disease (搜索)搜索该疾病, but we've learned it does not work for CTE," Alosco said. "We've really got to push discovery efforts and find the marker that's specific to the protein of CTE versus Alzheimer's because they're different. How we're going to get there is through the research we're doing right now."

Nicholas Ashton, the principal investigator in Phoenix, said roughly 10 patients have participated at the Arizona site. He noted that currently, diagnosing CTE in the living is mostly guesswork because so many of the symptoms mimic Alzheimer's.

"The more people involved, the more information we get and the closer we get to an answer," Ashton said. "Treatments exploded with Alzheimer's once we were able to accurately diagnose. We're trying to get to the same spot with CTE."

A Comprehensive Evaluation

For two days, Hasselbeck went through a comprehensive evaluation at the BU CTE Center that included multiple brain scans, blood tests, and psychological testing. He described undergoing a variety of mental tests — such as counting backward from 100 by sevens and reciting the alphabet backward — as well as a blood sample, an MRI on his brain, and a PET (positron emission tomography) scan that injects a small amount of safe radioactive tracer to map out the brain's function.

"I've got a healthy respect for people who are dealing with serious brain trauma, whether it's tumors or cancer," Hasselbeck said. "I walked in there feeling completely healthy and you still get a little anxious when you're doing a brain scan, an MRI. You come out and you're looking at your brain."

Hasselbeck, who played quarterback, emphasized that his position shielded him from some of the hits his teammates absorbed. "They need guys like me — they need people who are feeling good to step up to the plate and volunteer," he said. "I played quarterback, so I didn't take some of the hits that a lot of my teammates took. But the guys who were blocking for me, or playing special teams, or trying to get the ball back for me on defense, I wanted to do something. They had my back, so in a way I'd like to have their back." Hasselbeck is also donating his brain for research after he dies.

Toward a Diagnostic Algorithm and Treatment Trials

The research group's goal is to combine multiple data points into a reliable diagnostic tool. "Eventually in the not so distant future, have this algorithm that is going to combine all of these different data points to get us to a place where we can be confident for some people about CTE diagnosis," Alosco said.

Alosco attributed the relative advancement of Alzheimer's research to sheer numbers, noting that Alzheimer's research dates back decades with countless people studied, while CTE research is relatively new. The National Institutes of Health查看公司主页 is sponsoring the current study, awarding $15 million for the research in 2025.

"The [Alzheimer's progress] is through years and years of research, of people donating their brains, and also collecting data during life," Alosco said. "While we've been studying CTE for a while, we haven't had the point where we've had all this data during life, that have also donated their brain. We need to get to that place."

He added: "I'm really hopeful about detecting CTE — I don't think that's too distant. Once we can accurately diagnose, that's when we can start some treatment trials." The research group hopes to have more partnerships, sponsors, and volunteers involved in the future.