TY - JOUR
A1 - Werner, Rudolf A.
A1 - Weich, Alexander
A1 - Higuchi, Takahiro
A1 - Schmid, Jan S.
A1 - Schirbel, Andreas
A1 - Lassmann, Michael
A1 - Wild, Vanessa
A1 - Rudelius, Martina
A1 - Kudlich, Theodor
A1 - Herrmann, Ken
A1 - Scheurlen, Michael
A1 - Buck, Andreas K.
A1 - Kropf, Saskia
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
T1 - Imaging of Chemokine Receptor 4 Expression in Neuroendocrine Tumors - a Triple Tracer Comparative Approach
JF - Theranostics
N2 - C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and somatostatin receptors (SSTR) are overexpressed in gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET). In this study, we aimed to elucidate the feasibility of non-invasive CXCR4 positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging in GEP-NET patients using [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor in comparison to \(^{68}\)Ga-DOTA-D-Phe-Tyr3-octreotide ([\(^{68}\)Ga]DOTATOC) and \(^{18}\)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ([\(^{18}\)F]FDG). Twelve patients with histologically proven GEP-NET (3xG1, 4xG2, 5xG3) underwent [\(^{68}\)Ga]DOTATOC, [\(^{18}\)F]FDG, and [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT for staging and planning of the therapeutic management. Scans were analyzed on a patient as well as on a lesion basis and compared to immunohistochemical staining patterns of CXCR4 and somatostatin receptors SSTR2a and SSTR5. [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor visualized tumor lesions in 6/12 subjects, whereas [\(^{18}\)F]FDG revealed sites of disease in 10/12 and [\(^{68}\)Ga]DOTATOC in 11/12 patients, respectively. Regarding sensitivity, SSTR-directed PET was the superior imaging modality in all G1 and G2 NET. CXCR4-directed PET was negative in all G1 NET. In contrast, 50% of G2 and 80% of G3 patients exhibited [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-positive tumor lesions. Whereas CXCR4 seems to play only a limited role in detecting well-differentiated NET, increasing receptor expression could be non-invasively observed with increasing tumor grade. Thus, [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT might serve as non-invasive read-out for evaluating the possibility of CXCR4-directed endoradiotherapy in advanced dedifferentiated SSTR-negative tumors.
KW - SSTR
KW - peptide receptor radionuclide therapy
KW - neuroendocrine tumor
KW - [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor
KW - CXCR4
KW - chemokine receptor
KW - PET/CT
KW - DOTATOC
KW - PRRT
KW - Positronen-Emissions-Tomografie
Y1 - 2017
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158008
VL - 7
IS - 6
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Herrmann, Ken
A1 - Buck, Andreas K.
A1 - Schuster, Tibor
A1 - Abbrederis, Kathrin
A1 - Blümel, Christina
A1 - Santi, Ivan
A1 - Rudelius, Martina
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Peschel, Christian
A1 - Schwaiger, Markus
A1 - Dechow, Tobias
A1 - Keller, Ulrich
T1 - Week one FLT-PET response predicts complete remission to R-CHOP and survival in DLBCL
JF - Oncotarget
N2 - Despite improved survival in the Rituximab (R) era, a considerable number of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) ultimately die from the disease. Functional imaging using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-PET is suggested for assessment of residual viable tumor very early during treatment but is compromised by non-specific tracer retention in inflammatory lesions. The PET tracer [18F]fluorodeoxythymidine (FLT) as surrogate marker of tumor proliferation may overcome this limitation. We present results of a prospective clinical study testing FLT-PET as superior and early predictor of response to chemotherapy and outcome in DLBCL. 54 patients underwent FLT-PET prior to and one week after the start of R-CHOP chemotherapy. Repetitive FLT-PET imaging was readily implemented into the diagnostic work-up. Our data demonstrate that the reduction of FLT standard uptake valuemean (SUVmean) and SUVmax one week after chemotherapy was significantly higher in patients achieving complete response (CR, n=48; non-CR, n=6; p<0.006). Martingale-residual and Cox proportional hazard analyses showed a significant monotonous decrease of mortality risk with increasing change in SUV. Consistent with these results, early FLT-PET response showed relevant discriminative ability in predicting CR. In conclusion, very early FLT-PET in the course of R-CHOP chemotherapy is feasible and enables identification of patients at risk for treatment failure.
KW - [18F]Fluorodeoxythymidine
KW - FLT-PET
KW - positron emission tomography
KW - DLBCL
KW - lymphoma
Y1 - 2014
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120659
SN - 1949-2553
VL - 5
IS - 12
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Weich, Alexander
A1 - Werner, Rudolf A.
A1 - Buck, Andreas K.
A1 - Hartrampf, Philipp E.
A1 - Serfling, Sebastian E.
A1 - Scheurlen, Michael
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Meining, Alexander
A1 - Kircher, Stefan
A1 - Higuchi, Takahiro
A1 - Pomper, Martin G.
A1 - Rowe, Steven P.
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
A1 - Kircher, Malte
T1 - CXCR4-Directed PET/CT in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Neuroendocrine Carcinomas
JF - Diagnostics
N2 - We aimed to elucidate the diagnostic potential of the C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4)-directed positron emission tomography (PET) tracer \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor in patients with poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NEC), relative to the established reference standard \(^{18}\)F-FDG PET/computed tomography (CT). In our database, we retrospectively identified 11 treatment-naïve patients with histologically proven NEC, who underwent \(^{18}\)F-FDG and CXCR4-directed PET/CT for staging and therapy planning. The images were analyzed on a per-patient and per-lesion basis and compared to immunohistochemical staining (IHC) of CXCR4 from PET-guided biopsies. \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor visualized tumor lesions in 10/11 subjects, while \(^{18}\)F-FDG revealed sites of disease in all 11 patients. Although weak to moderate CXCR4 expression could be corroborated by IHC in 10/11 cases, \(^{18}\)F-FDG PET/CT detected significantly more tumor lesions (102 vs. 42; total lesions, n = 107; p < 0.001). Semi-quantitative analysis revealed markedly higher 18F-FDG uptake as compared to \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor (maximum and mean standardized uptake values (SUV) and tumor-to-background ratios (TBR) of cancerous lesions, SUVmax: 12.8 ± 9.8 vs. 5.2 ± 3.7; SUVmean: 7.4 ± 5.4 vs. 3.1 ± 3.2, p < 0.001; and, TBR 7.2 ± 7.9 vs. 3.4 ± 3.0, p < 0.001). Non-invasive imaging of CXCR4 expression in NEC is inferior to the reference standard \(^{18}\)F-FDG PET/CT.
KW - CXCR4
KW - NET
KW - NEC
KW - 68Ga-Pentixafor
KW - 18F-FDG
Y1 - 2021
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234231
SN - 2075-4418
VL - 11
IS - 4
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
A1 - Schreder, Martin
A1 - Schirbel, Andreas
A1 - Samnick, Samuel
A1 - Kortüm, Klaus Martin
A1 - Herrmann, Ken
A1 - Kropf, Saskia
A1 - Einsele, Herrmann
A1 - Buck, Andreas K.
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Knop, Stefan
A1 - Lückerath, Katharina
T1 - [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET/CT for imaging of chemokine receptor CXCR4 expression in multiple myeloma - comparison to [\(^{18}\)F]FDG and laboratory values
JF - Theranostics
N2 - Chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4) is a key factor for tumor growth and metastasis in several types of human cancer including multiple myeloma (MM). Proof-of-concept of CXCR4-directed radionuclide therapy in MM has recently been reported. This study assessed the diagnostic performance of the CXCR4-directed radiotracer [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor in MM and a potential role for stratifying patients to CXCR4-directed therapies.
Thirty-five patients with MM underwent [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET/CT for evaluation of eligibility for endoradiotherapy. In 19/35 cases, [\(^{18}\)F]FDG-PET/CT for correlation was available. Scans were compared on a patient and on a lesion basis. Tracer uptake was correlated with standard clinical parameters of disease activity.
[\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET detected CXCR4-positive disease in 23/35 subjects (66%). CXCR4-positivity at PET was independent from myeloma subtypes, cytogenetics or any serological parameters and turned out as a negative prognostic factor. In the 19 patients in whom a comparison to [\(^{18}\)F]FDG was available, [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET detected more lesions in 4/19 (21%) subjects, [\(^{18}\)F]FDG proved superior in 7/19 (37%). In the remaining 8/19 (42%) patients, both tracers detected an equal number of lesions. [\(^{18}\)F]FDG-PET positivity correlated with [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET positivity (p=0.018).
[\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET provides further evidence that CXCR4 expression frequently occurs in advanced multiple myeloma, representing a negative prognostic factor and a potential target for myeloma specific treatment. However, selecting patients for CXCR4 directed therapies and prognostic stratification seem to be more relevant clinical applications for this novel imaging modality, rather than diagnostic imaging of myeloma.
KW - medicine
KW - multiple myeloma
KW - FDG
KW - molecular imaging
KW - CXCR4
KW - PET
KW - radionuclide therapy
KW - theranostics
Y1 - 2017
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-172106
VL - 7
IS - 1
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Wester, Hans Jürgen
A1 - Keller, Ulrich
A1 - Schottelius, Margret
A1 - Beer, Ambros
A1 - Philipp-Abbrederis, Kathrin
A1 - Hoffmann, Frauke
A1 - Šimeček, Jakub
A1 - Gerngross, Carlos
A1 - Lassmann, Michael
A1 - Herrmann, Ken
A1 - Pellegata, Natalia
A1 - Rudelius, Martina
A1 - Kessler, Horst
A1 - Schwaiger, Markus
T1 - Disclosing the CXCR4 expression in lymphoproliferative diseases by targeted molecular imaging
JF - Theranostics
N2 - Chemokine ligand-receptor interactions play a pivotal role in cell attraction and cellular trafficking, both in normal tissue homeostasis and in disease. In cancer, chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) expression is an adverse prognostic factor. Early clinical studies suggest that targeting CXCR4 with suitable high-affinity antagonists might be a novel means for therapy. In addition to the preclinical evaluation of [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor in mice bearing human lymphoma xenografts as an exemplary CXCR4-expressing tumor entity, we report on the first clinical applications of [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-Positron Emission Tomography as a powerful method for CXCR4 imaging in cancer patients. [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor binds with high affinity and selectivity to human CXCR4 and exhibits a favorable dosimetry. [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET provides images with excellent specificity and contrast. This non-invasive imaging technology for quantitative assessment of CXCR4 expression allows to further elucidate the role of CXCR4/CXCL12 ligand interaction in the pathogenesis and treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.
KW - acute myeloid leukemia
KW - prognostic value
KW - therapeutic target
KW - chemokine receptor
KW - CXCR4
KW - lymphoma
KW - in vivo imaging
KW - positron emission tomography
Y1 - 2015
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-144537
VL - 5
IS - 6
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Philipp-Abbrederis, Kathrin
A1 - Herrmann, Ken
A1 - Knop, Stefan
A1 - Schottelius, Margret
A1 - Eiber, Matthias
A1 - Lückerath, Katharina
A1 - Pietschmann, Elke
A1 - Habringer, Stefan
A1 - Gerngroß, Carlos
A1 - Franke, Katharina
A1 - Rudelius, Martina
A1 - Schirbel, Andreas
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
A1 - Schwamborn, Kristina
A1 - Steidle, Sabine
A1 - Hartmann, Elena
A1 - Rosenwald, Andreas
A1 - Kropf, Saskia
A1 - Beer, Ambros J
A1 - Peschel, Christian
A1 - Einsele, Hermann
A1 - Buck, Andreas K
A1 - Schwaiger, Markus
A1 - Götze, Katharina
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Keller, Ulrich
T1 - In vivo molecular imaging of chemokine receptor CXCR4 expression in patients with advanced multiple myeloma
JF - EMBO Molecular Medicine
N2 - CXCR4 is a G-protein-coupled receptor that mediates recruitment of blood cells toward its ligand SDF-1. In cancer, high CXCR4 expression is frequently associated with tumor dissemination andpoor prognosis. We evaluated the novel CXCR4 probe [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor for invivo mapping of CXCR4 expression density in mice xenografted with human CXCR4-positive MM cell lines and patients with advanced MM by means of positron emission tomography (PET). [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET provided images with excellent specificity and contrast. In 10 of 14 patients with advanced MM [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT scans revealed MM manifestations, whereas only nine of 14 standard [\(^{18}\)F]fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT scans were rated visually positive. Assessment of blood counts and standard CD34\(^{+}\) flow cytometry did not reveal significant blood count changes associated with tracer application. Based on these highly encouraging data on clinical PET imaging of CXCR4 expression in a cohort of MM patients, we conclude that [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET opens a broad field for clinical investigations on CXCR4 expression and for CXCR4-directed therapeutic approaches in MM and other diseases.
KW - FDG PET/CT
KW - cells
KW - CXCR4/SDF-1
KW - CXCR4
KW - multiple myeloma
KW - positron emission tomography
KW - chemokine receptor
KW - in vivo imaging
KW - malignancies
KW - involvement
KW - microenvironment
KW - survival
KW - cancer
KW - autologous transplantation
KW - bone disease
Y1 - 2015
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148738
VL - 7
IS - 4
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
A1 - Lückerath, Katharina
A1 - Kleinlein, Irene
A1 - Monoranu, Camelia Maria
A1 - Linsenmann, Thomas
A1 - Kessler, Almuth F.
A1 - Rudelius, Martina
A1 - Kropf, Saskia
A1 - Buck, Andreas K.
A1 - Ernestus, Ralf-Ingo
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Löhr, Mario
A1 - Herrmann, Ken
T1 - \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT for Imaging of Chemokine Receptor 4 Expression in Glioblastoma
JF - Theranostics
N2 - Chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) has been reported to be overexpressed in glioblastoma (GBM) and to be associated with poor survival. This study investigated the feasibility of non-invasive CXCR4-directed imaging with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) using the radiolabelled chemokine receptor ligand \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor.
15 patients with clinical suspicion on primary or recurrent glioblastoma (13 primary, 2 recurrent tumors) underwent \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT for assessment of CXCR4 expression prior to surgery. O-(2-\(^{18}\)F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (\(^{18}\)F-FET) PET/CT images were available in 11/15 cases and were compared visually and semi-quantitatively (SUV\(_{max}\), SUV\(_{mean}\)). Tumor-to-background ratios (TBR) were calculated for both PET probes. \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT results were also compared to histological CXCR4 expression on neuronavigated surgical samples.
\(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT was visually positive in 13/15 cases with SUV\(_{mean}\) and SUV\(_{max}\) of 3.0±1.5 and 3.9±2.0 respectively. Respective values for \(^{18}\)F-FET were 4.4±2.0 (SUV\(_{mean}\)) and 5.3±2.3 (SUV\(_{max}\)). TBR for SUV\(_{mean}\) and SUV\(_{max}\) were higher for \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor than for \(^{18}\)F-FET (SUV\(_{mean}\) 154.0±90.7 vs. 4.1±1.3; SUV\(_{max}\) 70.3±44.0 and 3.8±1.2, p<0.01), respectively. Histological analysis confirmed CXCR4 expression in tumor areas with high \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor uptake; regions of the same tumor without apparent \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor uptake showed no or low receptor expression.
In this pilot study, \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor retention has been observed in the vast majority of glioblastoma lesions and served as readout for non-invasive determination of CXCR4 expression. Given the paramount importance of the CXCR4/SDF-1 axis in tumor biology, \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT might prove a useful tool for sensitive, non-invasive in-vivo quantification of CXCR4 as well as selection of patients who might benefit from CXCR4-directed therapy.
KW - imaging
KW - chemokine receptor-4
KW - glioblastoma
KW - positron emission tomography/computed tomography
KW - \(^{68}\)Ga-Pentixafor
Y1 - 2016
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-168174
VL - 6
IS - 3
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Werner, Rudolf A.
A1 - Kircher, Stefan
A1 - Higuchi, Takahiro
A1 - Kircher, Malte
A1 - Schirbel, Andreas
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Buck, Andreas K.
A1 - Pomper, Martin G.
A1 - Rowe, Steven P.
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
T1 - CXCR4-directed imaging in solid tumors
JF - Frontiers in Oncology
N2 - Despite histological evidence in various solid tumor entities, available experience with CXCR4-directed diagnostics and endoradiotherapy mainly focuses on hematologic diseases. With the goal of expanding the application of CXCR4 theranostics to solid tumors, we aimed to elucidate the feasibility of CXCR4-targeted imaging in a variety of such neoplasms.
Methods: Nineteen patients with newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve solid tumors including pancreatic adenocarcinoma or neuroendocrine tumor, cholangiocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer underwent [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT. CXCR4-mediated uptake was assessed both visually and semi-quantitatively by evaluation of maximum standardized uptake values (SUV\(_{max}\)) of both primary tumors and metastases. With physiologic liver uptake as reference, tumor-to-background ratios (TBR) were calculated. [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor findings were further compared to immunohistochemistry and [\(^{18}\)F]FDG PET/CT.
Results: On [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT, 10/19 (52.6%) primary tumors were visually detectable with a median SUVmax of 5.4 (range, 1.7–16.0) and a median TBR of 2.6 (range, 0.8–7.4), respectively. The highest level of radiotracer uptake was identified in a patient with cholangiocarcinoma (SUVmax, 16.0; TBR, 7.4). The relatively low uptake on [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor was also noted in metastases, exhibiting a median SUVmax of 4.5 (range, 2.3–8.8; TBR, 1.7; range, 1.0–4.1). A good correlation between uptake on [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor and histological derived CXCR4 expression was noted (R = 0.62, P < 0.05). In the 3 patients in whom [\(^{18}\)F]FDG PET/CT was available, [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor exhibited lower uptake in all lesions.
Conclusions: In this cohort of newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve patients with solid malignancies, CXCR4 expression as detected by [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor-PET/CT and immunohistochemistry was rather moderate. Thus, CXCR4-directed imaging may not play a major role in the management of solid tumors in the majority of patients.
KW - CXCR4
KW - [68Ga]Pentixafor
KW - theranostics
KW - solid tumors
KW - chemokine receptor
Y1 - 2019
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-195678
SN - 2234-943X
VL - 9
IS - 770
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Breun, Maria
A1 - Monoranu, Camelia M.
A1 - Kessler, Almuth F.
A1 - Matthies, Cordula
A1 - Löhr, Mario
A1 - Hagemann, Carsten
A1 - Schirbel, Andreas
A1 - Rowe, Steven P.
A1 - Pomper, Martin G.
A1 - Buck, Andreas K.
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Ernestus, Ralf-Ingo
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
T1 - [\(^{68}\)Ga]-Pentixafor PET/CT for CXCR4-mediated imaging of vestibular schwannomas
JF - Frontiers in Oncology
N2 - We have recently demonstrated CXCR4 overexpression in vestibular schwannomas (VS). This study investigated the feasibility of CXCR4-directed positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging of VS using the radiolabeled chemokine ligand [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor.
Methods: 4 patients with 6 primarily diagnosed or pre-treated/observed VS were enrolled. All subjects underwent [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT prior to surgical resection. Images were analyzed visually and semi-quantitatively for CXCR4 expression including calculation of tumor-to-background ratios (TBR). Immunohistochemistry served as standard of reference in three patients.
Results: [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT was visually positive in all cases. SUV\(_{mean}\) and SUV\(_{max}\) were 3.0 ± 0.3 and 3.8 ± 0.4 and TBR\(_{mean}\) and TBR\(_{max}\) were 4.0 ± 1.4 and 5.0 ± 1.7, respectively. Histological analysis confirmed CXCR4 expression in tumors.
Conclusion: Non-invasive imaging of CXCR4 expression using [\(^{68}\)Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT of VS is feasible and could prove useful for in vivo assessment of CXCR4 expression.
KW - vestibular schwannoma
KW - CXCR4
KW - PET/CT
KW - molecular imaging
KW - Pentixafor
Y1 - 2019
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-201863
VL - 9
IS - 503
ER -
TY - JOUR
A1 - Lewis, Richard
A1 - Habringer, Stefan
A1 - Kircher, Malte
A1 - Hefter, Maike
A1 - Peuker, Caroline Anna
A1 - Werner, Rudolf
A1 - Ademaj-Kospiri, Valëza
A1 - Gäble, Alexander
A1 - Weber, Wolfgang
A1 - Wester, Hans-Jürgen
A1 - Buck, Andreas
A1 - Herhaus, Peter
A1 - Lapa, Constantin
A1 - Keller, Ulrich
T1 - Investigation of spleen CXCR4 expression by [68Ga]Pentixafor PET in a cohort of 145 solid cancer patients
JF - EJNMMI Research
N2 - Background
The chemokine receptor CXCR4 is frequently overexpressed and associated with adverse prognosis in most hematopoietic malignancies and solid cancers. Recently, CXCR4 molecular imaging using the CXCR4-specific positron emission tomography (PET) tracer Pentixafor ([68Ga]Pentixafor) has become a well-established method to non-invasively measure CXCR4 expression in vivo. In previous Pentixafor imaging studies, highly variable CXCR4 tracer uptake to the spleen was observed.
Results
We investigated the hypothesis that enhanced spleen [68Ga]Pentixafor uptake and thus CXCR4 expression in patients with solid tumors would indicate an activated spleen state and/or an association with clinical and prognostic features and survival parameters. In this retrospective study, [68Ga]Pentixafor-PET images and patient records of 145 solid tumor patients representing 27 cancer entities were investigated for an association of spleen [68Ga]Pentixafor uptake and clinical characteristics and outcome. Based on this assessment, we did not observe differences in clinical outcomes, measured by progression-free survival, overall survival and remission status neither within the entire cohort nor within subgroups of adrenal cancer, desmoplastic small round cell tumor, neuroendocrine tumors, non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer and pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients. No tumor entity showed especially high levels of spleen [68Ga]Pentixafor uptake compared to others or a control cohort. However, when investigating laboratory parameters, there was a positive correlation of high spleen [68Ga]Pentixafor uptake with leukocyte and/or platelet counts in neuroendocrine tumors, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer.
Conclusion
Spleen [68Ga]Pentixafor uptake was not associated with stage of disease and clinical outcomes in solid tumor patients. We identified positively associated platelet and/or leukocyte counts with spleen [68Ga]Pentixafor uptake in neuroendocrine tumors, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer, suggesting that splenic CXCR4 expression could possibly play a role in systemic immunity/inflammation in some types of solid tumors or a subgroup of patients within solid tumor entities.
KW - solid tumors
KW - clinical studies
KW - retrospective studies
KW - molecular imaging
KW - PET
KW - CXCR4
KW - Pentixafor
KW - spleen
KW - uptake
Y1 - 2021
U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-363820
VL - 11
ER -