Dear AuntMinnieEurope member,
A new Nature Reviews Cancer article examines how molecular imaging can reveal the biological processes driving tumor growth, resistance, immune evasion, and metastasis.
New research also suggests that measurable chromosome damage following PET/CT is driven by the CT component rather than the FDG radiotracer.
In prostate cancer, technetium-99m MIP-1404 CZT SPECT/CT showed potential as a more accessible alternative to PSMA PET/CT for staging high-risk disease. PET/MRI may also help reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies and their associated complications.
The new kids on the block are here. F-18 mFBG achieved a pooled sensitivity of 97% in neuroblastoma, compared with 82% for I-123 MIBG. Meanwhile, a Cu-61-labeled SST2 PET tracer showed promise in patients with neuroendocrine tumors and could enable delayed imaging and centralized distribution.
In neuroimaging, F-18 PI-2620 tau PET identified associations between early tau accumulation, memory performance, and Alzheimer-related biomarkers in cognitively unimpaired older adults.
European experts have also published new guidance to harmonize imaging protocols for osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma across pediatric and adult care.
Sustainability is also moving up the imaging agenda. A University of Edinburgh team designed a theoretical 10-year model for keeping a multimodal preclinical imaging facility financially viable, operationally resilient, environmentally responsible, and accessible to researchers.
Before summer hit Europe, theranostics took center stage at the NMN Symposium in Vienna. Prof. Nathalie Albert from the EANM Oncology & Theranostics Committee told us why PET RANO 1.0 is now appearing in routine tumor boards, as criteria originally developed for clinical trials move into clinical practice.
While Europe is building scientific momentum in theranostics, access remains uneven. Prof. Clemens Decristoforo from EANM's Policy & Regulatory Affairs Council (PRAC) tells us why: five regulatory layers, national fragmentation, and no harmonized framework for hospital-based manufacturing. A patient in Vienna can access treatment; a patient across a border cannot. To address this, six major societies launched a consensus project on RLT referral pathways, mapping how patients are identified, referred, and routed through Europe's fragmented systems.
Other clinical advances include specimen PET/CT for breast cancer margin assessment, which reduced re-excision rates from 18.2% to 8.1%. Early FAPI-PET imaging at 10 minutes also matched standard 60-minute scans for lung cancer staging.
Among the takeaways from SNMMI, machine-learning models are now being used to predict Lu-177 PSMA dosimetry before treatment, potentially allowing therapy to be personalized before injection.
Didn't get enough? Check out our Molecular Imaging content area. Got ideas? Get in touch.
Claudia Tschabuschnig
Associate Editor
AuntMinnieEurope.com