Molecular Targeted Positron Emission Tomography Imaging and Radionuclide Therapy of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has an inauspicious prognosis, mainly due to difficulty in early detection of the disease by the current imaging modalities. The upcoming development of tumour-specific tracers provides an alternative solution for more accurate diagnostic imaging techniques for staging and therapy response monitoring. The future goal to strive for, in a patient with PDAC, should definitely be first to receive a diagnostic dose of an antibody labelled with a radionuclide and to subsequently receive a therapeutic dose of the same labelled antibody with curative intent. In the first part of this paper, we summarise the available evidence on tumour-targeted diagnostic tracers for molecular positron emission tomography (PET) imaging that have been tested in humans, together with their clinical indications. Tracers such as radiolabelled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)—in particular, 18F-labelled PSMA—already validated and successfully implemented in clinical practice for prostate cancer, also seem promising for PDAC. In the second part, we discuss the theranostic applications of these tumour-specific tracers. Although targeted radionuclide therapy is still in its infancy, lessons can already be learned from early publications focusing on dose fractioning and adding a radiosensitiser, such as gemcitabine.

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Diagnosis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Immuno-Positron Emission Tomography

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10061151 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1151

Author(s):

Ruth González-Gómez ◽

Roberto A. Pazo-Cid ◽

Luis Sarría ◽

Miguel Ángel Morcillo ◽

Alberto J. Schuhmacher

Keyword(s):

Positron Emission Tomography ◽

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma ◽

Imaging Techniques ◽

Metastatic Tumor ◽

Emission Tomography ◽

Whole Body ◽

Ductal Adenocarcinoma ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Positron Emission

Diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) by current imaging techniques is useful and widely used in the clinic but presents several limitations and challenges, especially in small lesions that frequently cause radiological tumors infra-staging, false-positive diagnosis of metastatic tumor recurrence, and common occult micro-metastatic disease. The revolution in cancer multi-“omics” and bioinformatics has uncovered clinically relevant alterations in PDAC that still need to be integrated into patients’ clinical management, urging the development of non-invasive imaging techniques against principal biomarkers to assess and incorporate this information into the clinical practice. “Immuno-PET” merges the high target selectivity and specificity of antibodies and engineered fragments toward a given tumor cell surface marker with the high spatial resolution, sensitivity, and quantitative capabilities of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging techniques. In this review, we detail and provide examples of the clinical limitations of current imaging techniques for diagnosing PDAC. Furthermore, we define the different components of immuno-PET and summarize the existing applications of this technique in PDAC. The development of novel immuno-PET methods will make it possible to conduct the non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of patients over time using in vivo, integrated, quantifiable, 3D, whole body immunohistochemistry working like a “virtual biopsy”.

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Clinical Impact of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the Diagnostic Workup of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: A Systematic Review

Diagnostics ◽

10.3390/diagnostics10121042 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 1042

Author(s):

Annachiara Arnone ◽

Riccardo Laudicella ◽

Federico Caobelli ◽

Priscilla Guglielmo ◽

Marianna Spallino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Positron Emission Tomography ◽

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma ◽

Fdg Pet ◽

Emission Tomography ◽

Ductal Adenocarcinoma ◽

Positron Emission ◽

Pet Ct ◽

18F Fdg ◽

Fdg Pet Ct

In this review, the performance of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in the diagnostic workup of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is evaluated. A comprehensive literature search up to September 2020 was performed, selecting studies with the presence of: sample size ≥10 patients and index test (i.e., “FDG” or “18F-FDG” AND “pancreatic adenocarcinoma” or “pancreas cancer” AND “PET” or “positron emission tomography”). The methodological quality was evaluated using the revised quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS-2) tool and presented according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Basic data (authors, year of publication, country and study design), patients’ characteristics (number of enrolled subjects and age), disease phase, type of treatment and grading were retrieved. Forty-six articles met the adopted research criteria. The articles were divided according to the considered clinical context. Namely, besides conventional anatomical imaging, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), molecular imaging with FDG PET/CT is an important tool in PDAC, for all disease stages. Further prospective studies will be necessary to confirm the cost-effectiveness of such imaging techniques by testing its real potential improvement in the clinical management of PDAC.

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