Cited 69 times since 2012 (6 per year) source: EuropePMC Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Volume 19, Issue 1, 7 1 2012, Pages 183-193 Development of [(11)C]erlotinib positron emission tomography for in vivo evaluation of EGF receptor mutational status. Bahce I, Smit EF, Lubberink M, van der Veldt AA, Yaqub M, Windhorst AD, Schuit RC, Thunnissen E, Heideman DA, Postmus PE, Lammertsma AA, Hendrikse NH
Purpose
To evaluate whether, in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), tumor uptake of [(11)C]erlotinib can be quantified and imaged using positron emission tomography and to assess whether the level of tracer uptake corresponds with the presence of activating tumor EGF receptor (EGFR) mutations.
Experimental design
Ten patients with NSCLCs, five with an EGFR exon 19 deletion, and five without were scanned twice (test retest) on the same day with an interval of at least 4 hours. Each scanning procedure included a low-dose computed tomographic scan, a 10-minute dynamic [(15)O]H(2)O scan, and a 1-hour dynamic [(11)C]erlotinib scan. Data were analyzed using full tracer kinetic modeling. EGFR expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry.
Results
The quantitative measure of [(11)C]erlotinib uptake, that is, volume of distribution (V(T)), was significantly higher in tumors with activating mutations, that is, all with exon 19 deletions (median V(T), 1.76; range, 1.25-2.93), than in those without activating mutations (median V(T), 1.06; range, 0.67-1.22) for both test and retest data (P = 0.014 and P = 0.009, respectively). Good reproducibility of [(11)C]erlotinib V(T) was seen (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.88). Intergroup differences in [(11)C]erlotinib uptake were not correlated with EGFR expression levels, nor tumor blood flow.
Conclusion
[(11)C]erlotinib V(T) was significantly higher in NSCLCs tumors with EGFR exon 19 deletions.
