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Impact of PET/CT for Assessing Response to Immunotherapy-A Clinical Perspective.

ABSTRACT: Cancer immunotherapy using immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has revolutionized the therapeutic landscape of various malignancies like non-small-cell lung cancer or melanoma. Pre-therapy response prediction and assessment during ICI treatment is challenging due to the lack of reliable biomarkers and the possibility of atypical radiological response patterns. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) enables the visualization and quantification of metabolic lesion activity additional to conventional CT imaging. Various biomarkers derived from PET/CT have been reported as predictors for response to ICI and may aid to overcome the challenges clinicians currently face in the management of ICI-treated patients. In this narrative review, experts in nuclear medicine, thoracic oncology, dermatooncology, hemato- and internal oncology, urological and head/neck tumors performed literature reviews in their respective field and a joint discussion on the use of PET/CT in the context of ICI treatment. The aims were to give a clinical overview on present standards and evidence, to identify current challenges and fields of research and to enable an outlook to future developments and their possible implications. Multiple promising studies concerning ICI response assessment or prediction using biomarkers derived from PET/CT alone or as composite biomarkers have been identified for various malignancies and disease stages. Of interest, additional major incentives in the field may evolve from novel tracers specifically targeting immune-checkpoint molecules which could allow not only response assessment and prognosis, but also visualization of histological tumor cell properties like programmed death-ligand (PD-L1) expression in vivo. Despite the broad range of existing literature on PET/CT-derived biomarkers in ICI therapy, implications for daily clinical practice remain elusive. High-quality prospective data are urgently warranted to determine whether patients benefit from the application of PET/CT in terms of prognosis. At the moment, the lack of such evidence as well as the absence of standardized imaging methods and biomarkers still precludes PET/CT imaging to be included in the relevant clinical practice guidelines.

SUBMITTER: Lang D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7694130 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Impact of PET/CT for Assessing Response to Immunotherapy-A Clinical Perspective.

Lang David D Wahl Gerald G Poier Nikolaus N Graf Sebastian S Kiesl David D Lamprecht Bernd B Gabriel Michael M

Journal of clinical medicine 20201028 11

Cancer immunotherapy using immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has revolutionized the therapeutic landscape of various malignancies like non-small-cell lung cancer or melanoma. Pre-therapy response prediction and assessment during ICI treatment is challenging due to the lack of reliable biomarkers and the possibility of atypical radiological response patterns. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) enables the visualization and quantification of metabolic lesion activity additi ...[more]

PMID: 33126715

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Project description:AimTo examine the role of [18F]FDG PET/CT for assessing response to immunotherapy in patients with some solid tumors.MethodsData recorded in a multicenter (n = 17), retrospective database between March and November 2021 were analyzed. The sample included patients with a confirmed diagnosis of a solid tumor who underwent serial [18F]FDG PET/CT (before and after one or more cycles of immunotherapy), who were >18 years of age, and had a follow-up of at least 12 months after their first PET/CT scan. Patients enrolled in clinical trials or without a confirmed diagnosis of cancer were excluded. The authors classified cases as having a complete or partial metabolic response to immunotherapy, or stable or progressive metabolic disease, based on a visual and semiquantitative analysis according to the EORTC criteria. Clinical response to immunotherapy was assessed at much the same time points as the serial PET scans, and both the obtained responses were compared.ResultsThe study concerned 311 patients (median age: 67; range: 31-89 years) in all. The most common neoplasm was lung cancer (56.9%), followed by malignant melanoma (32.5%). Nivolumab was administered in 46.3%, and pembrolizumab in 40.5% of patients. Baseline PET and a first PET scan performed at a median 3 months after starting immunotherapy were available for all 311 patients, while subsequent PET scans were obtained after a median 6, 12, 16, and 21 months for 199 (64%), 102 (33%), 46 (15%), and 23 (7%) patients, respectively. Clinical response to therapy was recorded at around the same time points after starting immunotherapy for 252 (81%), 173 (56%), 85 (27%), 40 (13%), and 22 (7%) patients, respectively. After a median 18 (1-137) months, 113 (36.3%) patients had died. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, metabolic responders on the first two serial PET scans showed a better prognosis than non-responders, while clinical response became prognostically informative from the second assessment after starting immunotherapy onwards.Conclusions[18F]FDG PET/CT could have a role in the assessment of response to immunotherapy in patients with some solid tumors. It can provide prognostic information and thus contribute to a patient's appropriate treatment. Prospective randomized controlled trials are mandatory.

Dataset Information

Impact of PET/CT for Assessing Response to Immunotherapy-A Clinical Perspective.

Publications

Impact of PET/CT for Assessing Response to Immunotherapy-A Clinical Perspective.

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