One-stop [18F]FDG and [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 total-body PET/CT examination with dual-low activity: a feasibility study.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) based on fibroblast activation protein inhibitors (FAPI) has shown complementary values to 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) in cancer imaging. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of a one-stop FDG-FAPI dual-tracer imaging protocol with dual-low activity for oncological imaging. METHODS: Nineteen patients with malignancies underwent one-stop [18F]FDG (0.37 MBq/kg) PET (PETFDG) and dual-tracer PET 30-40 and 50-60 min (hereafter, PETD30-40 and PETD50-60, respectively) after additional injection of [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 (0.925 MBq/kg), with a single diagnostic CT to generate the PET/CT. The lesion detection rate and tumor-to-normal ratios (TNRs) of tracer uptake were compared between PETFDG/CT and PETD50-60/CT and between PETD50-60/CT and PETD30-40/CT. In addition, a visual scoring system was established to compare the lesion detectability. RESULTS: The dual-tracer PETD50-60 and PETD30-40/CT showed similar performance in detecting primary tumors but presented significantly higher lesion TNRs than PETFDG. Significantly, more metastases with higher TNRs were identified on PETD50-60 than PETFDG (491 vs. 261, P < 0.001). The dual-tracer PETD50-60 received significantly higher visual scores than single PETFDG (111 vs. 10) in demonstrating both primary tumors (12 vs. 2) and metastases (99 vs. 8). However, these differences were not significant between PETD50-60 and PETD30-40. These resulted in tumor upstaging in 44.4% patients taking PET/CT for initial assessment, and more recurrences (68 vs. 7) were identified in patients taking PET/CT for restaging, both on PETD50-60 and PETD30-40, compared to PETFDG. The reduced effective dosimetry per patient (26.2 ± 2.57 mSv) was equal to that of a single standard whole-body PET/CT. CONCLUSION: The one-stop dual-tracer dual-low-activity PET imaging protocol combines the strengths of [18F]FDG and [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 with shorter duration and lesser radiation and is thus clinically applicable.