Dear AuntMinnie Member,
In this edition of the Molecular Imaging Insider, we’ve highlighted an Alzheimer’s disease study by researchers in Boston who hypothesized that individuals who employ more adaptive coping strategies demonstrate better cognitive trajectories -- importantly, independent of beta-amyloid and tau PET pathology. Their cohort was a group that responded to a common stressor, the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here for more details.
Speaking of COVID-19, we also highlighted its persistent consequences, with several studies revealing new information about long COVID. In one, researchers used a novel PET tracer to reveal a potential new therapeutic target for memory impairments in patients with the condition; in another, PET showed that Increased brain inflammatory activity may last in some patients for up to two years.
By far, prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET in prostate cancer patients has grabbed most of our recent headlines. Below are a few studies we’ve highlighted since our last newsletter:
Following a worldwide trial, the International Atomic Energy Agency recommended the global adoption of PSMA-PET/CT into standard staging protocols.
In a study in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, a group at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, found that PSMA-PET shows promise for visualizing treatment responses in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
A group at Yale University in New Haven, CT, suggests that PSMA-PET imaging does not appear to be cost-effective for all patients with recurrent prostate cancer, but could be for selected patients.
According to a study in JAMA Oncology, PSMA-PET imaging can improve survival outcomes for men undergoing salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy.
Meanwhile, F-18 FDG-PET/CT remains the most frequent imaging exam used in nuclear medicine, with the technique showing its stripes in several studies. In one we highlighted, F-18 FDG-PET/CT revealed “chemo brain” regions in leukemia patients, and in another, researchers suggest that GLP-1 drugs may confound F-18 FDG-PET/CT imaging findings.
Finally, we’re seeing more AI studies in the field. At this year’s American Society of Nuclear Cardiology annual meeting in Orlando, FL, for instance, researchers suggested that AI can significantly enhance the image contrast of conventional rubidium-82 PET myocardial perfusion imaging. In other research, an AI model edged closer to being clinically useful for detecting prostate cancer on PSMA-PET/CT.
For more molecular imaging news, be sure to check our Molecular Imaging content area regularly. And as always, if you have molecular imaging topics you'd like us to consider, please contact me.
Will Morton
Associate Editor
AuntMinnie.com
