Dear Molecular Imaging Insider,
Despite its approval in the U.S. and Europe for PET imaging in prostate cancer, PET with a gallium-68 (Ga-68) prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-11 radiotracer is often not the modality of choice. In this edition's Insider Exclusive, Dutch researchers suggested it should be, since using Ga-68 PSMA-11 to guide radiation therapy improves survival outcomes in patients with oligometastatic recurrent prostate cancer.
When it comes to imaging diseases like COVID-19, nuclear medicine modalities rarely have been on the front lines. But as we reported in a recent study, FDG-PET/CT offers strong evidence for identifying infection and inflammation in COVID-19 patients.
COVID-19 was also at the top of the list of our coverage of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging virtual annual meeting on June 11-15, as a series of FDG-PET images of COVID-19 patients showing long-term neurological changes walked away with Image of the Year honors.
Check out more highlights from the meeting below:
- FDG-PET scans showed patients taking lipophilic statins may have more than double the risk of converting to dementia compared with those not taking statins.
- An animal study showed PET imaging with a Ga-68-labeled fibroblast activation protein inhibitor can identify and monitor pulmonary fibrosis.
- While the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be fading, it has highlighted health disparities that persist, according to physician and author Dr. Sampson Davis.
- The combination of artificial intelligence and SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging can accurately predict future major adverse cardiac events.
- Researchers have developed a new PET imaging system that significantly increases spatial resolution.
In other important news, a PET radiopharmaceutical designed to target prostate-specific membrane antigen was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Finally, PET continues to show its versatility in imaging Alzheimer's disease, with researchers publishing articles on tau PET's superiority to amyloid PET and MRI as well as on how early-frame PET could reduce the cost and burden associated with the disease.
Be sure to check back regularly for more news in your Molecular Imaging Community!
