Immune PET Imaging Iyalomhe, Osigbemhe; Farwell, Michael D
The Radiologic clinics of North America
59, Številka:
5
Journal Article
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Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT is sensitive to metabolic, immune-related, and structural changes that can occur in tumors in cancer immunotherapy. Unique mechanisms of immune checkpoint inhibitors ...(ICIs) occasionally make response evaluation challenging, because tumors and inflammatory changes are both FDG avid. These response patterns and sequelae of ICI immunotherapy, such as immune-related adverse events, are discussed. Immune-specific PET imaging probes at preclinical stage or in early clinical trials, which may help guide clinical management of cancer patients treated with immunotherapy and likely have applications outside of oncology for other diseases in which the immune system plays a role, are reviewed.
Immunologic responses to anti-PD-1 therapy in melanoma patients occur rapidly with pharmacodynamic T cell responses detectable in blood by 3 weeks. It is unclear, however, whether these early ...blood-based observations translate to the tumor microenvironment. We conducted a study of neoadjuvant/adjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy in stage III/IV melanoma. We hypothesized that immune reinvigoration in the tumor would be detectable at 3 weeks and that this response would correlate with disease-free survival. We identified a rapid and potent anti-tumor response, with 8 of 27 patients experiencing a complete or major pathological response after a single dose of anti-PD-1, all of whom remain disease free. These rapid pathologic and clinical responses were associated with accumulation of exhausted CD8 T cells in the tumor at 3 weeks, with reinvigoration in the blood observed as early as 1 week. Transcriptional analysis demonstrated a pretreatment immune signature (neoadjuvant response signature) that was associated with clinical benefit. In contrast, patients with disease recurrence displayed mechanisms of resistance including immune suppression, mutational escape, and/or tumor evolution. Neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 treatment is effective in high-risk resectable stage III/IV melanoma. Pathological response and immunological analyses after a single neoadjuvant dose can be used to predict clinical outcome and to dissect underlying mechanisms in checkpoint blockade.
Positron Emission Tomography Lameka, Katherine; Farwell, Michael D; Ichise, Masanori
Handbook of clinical neurology,
2016, Letnik:
135
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a minimally invasive imaging procedure with a wide range of clinical and research applications. PET allows for the three-dimensional mapping of administered ...positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals such as (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (for imaging glucose metabolism). PET enables the study of biologic function in both health and disease, in contrast to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), that are more suited to study a body's morphologic changes, although functional MRI can also be used to study certain brain functions by measuring blood flow changes during task performance. This chapter first provides an overview of the basic physics principles and instrumentation behind PET methodology, with an introduction to the merits of merging functional PET imaging with anatomic CT or MRI imaging. We then focus on clinical neurologic disorders, and reference research on relevant PET radiopharmaceuticals when applicable. We then provide an overview of PET scan interpretation and findings in several specific neurologic disorders such as dementias, epilepsy, movement disorders, infection, cerebrovascular disorders, and brain tumors.
Cell-based therapeutics have considerable promise across diverse medical specialties; however, reliable human imaging of the distribution and trafficking of genetically engineered cells remains a ...challenge. We developed positron emission tomography (PET) probes based on the small-molecule antibiotic trimethoprim (TMP) that can be used to image the expression of the Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase enzyme (eDHFR) and tested the ability of 18F-TMP, a fluorine-18 probe, to image primary human chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells expressing the PET reporter gene eDHFR, yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), and Renilla luciferase (rLuc). Engineered T cells showed an approximately 50-fold increased bioluminescent imaging signal and 10-fold increased 18F-TMP uptake compared to controls in vitro. eDHFR-expressing anti-GD2 CAR T cells were then injected into mice bearing control GD2− and GD2+ tumors. PET/computed tomography (CT) images acquired on days 7 and 13 demonstrated early residency of CAR T cells in the spleen followed by on-target redistribution to the GD2+ tumors. This was corroborated by autoradiography and anti-human CD8 immunohistochemistry. We found a high sensitivity of detection for identifying tumor-infiltrating CD8 CAR T cells, ∼11,000 cells per mm3. These data suggest that the 18F-TMP/eDHFR PET pair offers important advantages that could better allow investigators to monitor immune cell trafficking to tumors in patients.
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The ability to track genetically engineered cells in vivo has been a long-standing goal for molecular imaging. Sellmyer et al. show that eDHFR can be used as a positron emission tomography reporter gene to track chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells longitudinally in a rodent model with high sensitivity.
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are effective in a broad population of patients with ovarian cancer; however, resistance caused by low enzyme expression of the drug target PARP-1 ...remains to be clinically evaluated in this context. We hypothesize that PARP-1 expression is variable in ovarian cancer and can be quantified in primary and metastatic disease using a novel PET imaging agent.
We used a translational approach to describe the significance of PET imaging of PARP-1 in ovarian cancer. First, we produced PARP1-KO ovarian cancer cell lines using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to test the loss of PARP-1 as a resistance mechanism to all clinically used PARP inhibitors. Next, we performed preclinical microPET imaging studies using ovarian cancer patient-derived xenografts in mouse models. Finally, in a phase I PET imaging clinical trial we explored PET imaging as a regional marker of PARP-1 expression in primary and metastatic disease through correlative tissue histology.
We found that deletion of PARP1 causes resistance to all PARP inhibitors in vitro, and microPET imaging provides proof of concept as an approach to quantify PARP-1 in vivo. Clinically, we observed a spectrum of standard uptake values (SUVs) ranging from 2-12 for PARP-1 in tumors. In addition, we found a positive correlation between PET SUVs and fluorescent immunohistochemistry for PARP-1 (r2 = 0.60).
This work confirms the translational potential of a PARP-1 PET imaging agent and supports future clinical trials to test PARP-1 expression as a method to stratify patients for PARP inhibitor therapy.
Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02637934.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Department of Defense OC160269, a Basser Center team science grant, NIH National Cancer Institute R01CA174904, a Department of Energy training grant DE-SC0012476, Abramson Cancer Center Radiation Oncology pilot grants, the Marsha Rivkin Foundation, Kaleidoscope of Hope Foundation, and Paul Calabresi K12 Career Development Award 5K12CA076931.
As the immuno-oncology field continues the rapid growth witnessed over the past decade, optimising patient outcomes requires an evolution in the current response-assessment guidelines for phase 2 and ...3 immunotherapy clinical trials and clinical care. Additionally, investigational tools—including image analysis of standard-of-care scans (such as CT, magnetic resonance, and PET) with analytics, such as radiomics, functional magnetic resonance agents, and novel molecular-imaging PET agents—offer promising advancements for assessment of immunotherapy. To document current challenges and opportunities and identify next steps in immunotherapy diagnostic imaging, the National Cancer Institute Clinical Imaging Steering Committee convened a meeting with diverse representation among imaging experts and oncologists to generate a comprehensive review of the state of the field.
Despite the success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy against hematologic malignancies, successful targeting of solid tumors with CAR T cells has been limited by a lack of durable ...responses and reports of toxicities. Our understanding of the limited therapeutic efficacy in solid tumors could be improved with quantitative tools that allow characterization of CAR T-targeted antigens in tumors and accurate monitoring of response.
We used a radiolabeled FAP inhibitor (FAPI) 18FAlF-FAPI-74 probe to complement ongoing efforts to develop and optimize FAP CAR T cells. The selectivity of the radiotracer for FAP was characterized in vitro, and its ability to monitor changes in FAP expression was evaluated using rodent models of lung cancer.
18FAlF-FAPI-74 showed selective retention in FAP+ cells in vitro, with effective blocking of the uptake in presence of unlabeled FAPI. In vivo, 18FAlF-FAPI-74 was able to detect FAP expression on tumor cells as well as FAP+ stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment with a high target-to-background ratio. We further demonstrated the utility of the tracer to monitor changes in FAP expression following FAP CAR T-cell therapy, and the PET imaging findings showed a robust correlation with ex vivo analyses.
This noninvasive imaging approach to interrogate the tumor microenvironment represents an innovative pairing of a diagnostic PET probe with solid tumor CAR T-cell therapy and has the potential to serve as a predictive and pharmacodynamic response biomarker for FAP as well as other stroma-targeted therapies. A PET imaging approach targeting FAP expressed on activated fibroblasts of the tumor stroma has the potential to predict and monitor therapeutic response to FAP-targeted CAR T-cell therapy. See related commentary by Weber et al., p. 5241.
We conducted a phase I trial evaluating pembrolizumab+hypofractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) for patients with metastatic cancers.
There were two strata (12 patients each): (i) NSCLC/melanoma ...progressing on prior anti-PD-1 therapy, (ii) other cancer types; anti-PD-1-naive. Patients received 6 cycles of pembrolizumab, starting 1 week before HFRT. Patients had ≥2 lesions; only one was irradiated (8 Gy × 3 for first half; 17 Gy × 1 for second half in each stratum) and the other(s) followed for response.
Of the 24 patients, 20 (83%) had treatment-related adverse events (AEs) (all grade 1 or 2). There were eight grade 3 AEs, none treatment related. There were no dose-limiting toxicities or grade 4/5 AEs. Stratum 1: two patients (of 12) with progression on prior PD-1 blockade experienced prolonged responses (9.2 and 28.1 months). Stratum 2: one patient experienced a complete response and two had prolonged stable disease (7.4 and 7.0 months). Immune profiling demonstrated that anti-PD-1 therapy and radiation induced a consistent increase in the proliferation marker Ki67 in PD-1-expressing CD8 T cells.
HFRT was well tolerated with pembrolizumab, and in some patients with metastatic NSCLC or melanoma, it reinvigorated a systemic response despite previous progression on anti-PD-1 therapy.
NCT02303990 ( www.clinicaltrials.gov ).
Development of Companion Diagnostics Mankoff, David A., MD, PhD; Edmonds, Christine E., MD; Farwell, Michael D., MD ...
Seminars in nuclear medicine,
2016, January 2016, 2016-Jan, 2016-01-00, 20160101, Letnik:
46, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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The goal of individualized and targeted treatment and precision medicine requires the assessment of potential therapeutic targets to direct treatment selection. The biomarkers used to direct ...precision medicine, often termed companion diagnostics, for highly targeted drugs have thus far been almost entirely based on in vitro assay of biopsy material. Molecular imaging companion diagnostics offer a number of features complementary to those from in vitro assay, including the ability to measure the heterogeneity of each patient’s cancer across the entire disease burden and to measure early changes in response to treatment. We discuss the use of molecular imaging methods as companion diagnostics for cancer therapy with the goal of predicting response to targeted therapy and measuring early (pharmacodynamic) response as an indication of whether the treatment has “hit” the target. We also discuss considerations for probe development for molecular imaging companion diagnostics, including both small-molecule probes and larger molecules such as labeled antibodies and related constructs. We then describe two examples where both predictive and pharmacodynamic molecular imaging markers have been tested in humans: endocrine therapy for breast cancer and human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2−targeted therapy. The review closes with a summary of the items needed to move molecular imaging companion diagnostics from early studies into multicenter trials and into the clinic.
Immunotherapy has dramatically altered the therapeutic landscape for oncology, but more research is needed to identify patients who are likely to achieve durable clinical benefit and those who may ...develop unacceptable side effects. We investigated the role of artificial intelligence in PET/SPECT-guided approaches for immunotherapy-treated patients.
We performed a scoping review of MEDLINE, CENTRAL, and Embase databases using key terms related to immunotherapy, PET/SPECT imaging, and AI/radiomics through October 12, 2022.
Of the 217 studies identified in our literature search, 24 relevant articles were selected. The median (interquartile range) sample size of included patient cohorts was 63 (157). Primary tumors of interest were lung (n = 14/24, 58.3%), lymphoma (n = 4/24, 16.7%), or melanoma (n = 4/24, 16.7%). A total of 28 treatment regimens were employed, including anti-PD-(L)1 (n = 13/28, 46.4%) and anti-CTLA-4 (n = 4/28, 14.3%) monoclonal antibodies. Predictive models were built from imaging features using univariate radiomics (n = 7/24, 29.2%), radiomics (n = 12/24, 50.0%), or deep learning (n = 5/24, 20.8%) and were most often used to prognosticate (n = 6/24, 25.0%) or describe tumor phenotype (n = 5/24, 20.8%). Eighteen studies (75.0%) performed AI model validation.
Preliminary results suggest broad potential for the application of AI-guided immunotherapy management after further validation of models on large, prospective, multicenter cohorts.
This scoping review describes how artificial intelligence models are built to make predictions based on medical imaging and explores their application specifically in the PET and SPECT examination of immunotherapy-treated cancers.
• Immunotherapy has drastically altered the cancer treatment landscape but is known to precipitate response patterns that are not accurately accounted for by traditional imaging methods. • There is an unmet need for better tools to not only facilitate in-treatment evaluation but also to predict, a priori, which patients are likely to achieve a good response with a certain treatment as well as those who are likely to develop side effects. • Artificial intelligence applied to PET/SPECT imaging of immunotherapy-treated patients is mainly used to make predictions about prognosis or tumor phenotype and is built from baseline, pre-treatment images. Further testing is required before a true transition to clinical application can be realized.