Clinical Application of Fibroblast Activation Protein PET/MRI for Diagnosis and Staging in Malignant Tumors

Summary

Positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging provides a valuable tool for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis, staging of various tumors. Malignant tumor is composed of tumor cells and tumor stroma, which occupies the vast majority of the tumor. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) are an important part of the tumor stroma. Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is over-expressed in CAF, which is closely related to tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, immunosuppression and prognosis; and the expression level of FAP in normal tissues and organs is very low. So it becomes an excellent target for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Radionuclide-labeled fibroblast activation protein inhibitors (FAPI) that specifically target to FAP as a tracer for PET imaging can be applied for targeted diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Recently, some studies have found that gallium-68 (68Ga) -FAPI as a new novel positron tracer has shown to be with good application potential. In this prospective study, the investigators will use integrated PET/MR, and PET/CT with the agent 68Ga-FAPI and conventional imaging agent \[F-18\] fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) to diagnose and stage various cancers, the aim is to make up for the deficiency in FDG PET imaging in the diagnosis and staging of some cancers.

Timeline

Start

2020-05-22

Primary completion

2023-12-31

Completion

2023-12-31

Publications

• Qin C, Song Y, Gai Y, Ruan W, Liu Q, Liu F, Zheng D, Zhang P, Liu H, Zhang T, Tao K, Lan X. Gallium-68-labeled fibroblast activation protein inhibitor PET in gastrointestinal cancer: insights into diagnosis and management. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2022 Oct;49(12):4228-4240. doi: 10.1007/s00259-022-05847-0. Epub 2022 Jun 3.
• Qin C, Song Y, Liu X, Gai Y, Liu Q, Ruan W, Liu F, Hu F, Lan X. Increased uptake of 68Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 in bones and joints: metastases and beyond. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2022 Jan;49(2):709-720. doi: 10.1007/s00259-021-05472-3. Epub 2021 Jul 9.
• Qin C, Liu F, Huang J, Ruan W, Liu Q, Gai Y, Hu F, Jiang D, Hu Y, Yang K, Lan X. A head-to-head comparison of 68Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 and 18F-FDG PET/MR in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a prospective study. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Sep;48(10):3228-3237. doi: 10.1007/s00259-021-05255-w. Epub 2021 Feb 20.
• Zhang X, Song W, Qin C, Liu F, Lan X. Non-malignant findings of focal 68Ga-FAPI-04 uptake in pancreas. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021 Jul;48(8):2635-2641. doi: 10.1007/s00259-021-05194-6. Epub 2021 Jan 15.

Drugs

Indications