RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Imaging the Cancer Immune Environment and Its Response to Pharmacologic Intervention, Part 2: The Role of Novel PET Agents
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 1553
OP 1559
DO 10.2967/jnumed.120.248823
VO 61
IS 11
A1 Iravani, Amir
A1 Hicks, Rodney J.
YR 2020
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/61/11/1553.abstract
AB Although 18F-FDG PET/CT is widely available and is increasingly being used to monitor response to immunotherapy and simultaneously identify immune-related adverse events, there are several challenges in interpreting the results of this investigation, especially early in the course of treatment. It also has limited utility in selecting the optimal type of immunotherapy. As knowledge about immune contexture increases, new targets that may be amenable to imaging are being defined. These exciting advances, coupled with increasingly sophisticated methods for generating radiopharmaceuticals, provide the potential for either replacing or complementing 18F-FDG PET/CT in the selection and monitoring of immunotherapy. Approaches include imaging specific characteristics of immune cell infiltrates or aspects of the tumor microenvironment that are known to be associated with suppression of the innate and adaptive immune response. Following a large body of preclinical work, promising agents that are entering into early clinical evaluation are discussed. We suggest a speculative algorithm as to how these might be used in routine practice, subject to validation in clinical trials.