TY - JOUR
T1 - The evidence-based role of catecholaminergic PET tracers in Neuroblastoma. A systematic review and a head-to-head comparison with mIBG scintigraphy
AU - Piccardo, Arnoldo
AU - Treglia, Giorgio
AU - Fiz, Francesco
AU - Bar-Sever, Zvi
AU - Bottoni, Gianluca
AU - Biassoni, Lorenzo
AU - Borgwardt, Lise
AU - de Keizer, Bart
AU - Jehanno, Nina
AU - Lopci, Egesta
AU - Kurch, Lars
AU - Massollo, Michela
AU - Nadel, Helen
AU - Roca Bielsa, Isabel
AU - Shulkin, Barry
AU - Vali, Reza
AU - De Palma, Diego
AU - Cecchin, Diego
AU - Santos, Ana Isabel
AU - Zucchetta, Pietro
N1 - © 2023. The Author(s).
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - BACKGROUND: Molecular imaging is pivotal in staging and response assessment of children with neuroblastoma (NB). [123I]-metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) is the standard imaging method; however, it is characterised by low spatial resolution, time-consuming acquisition procedures and difficult interpretation. Many PET catecholaminergic radiotracers have been proposed as a replacement for [123I]-mIBG, however they have not yet made it into clinical practice. We aimed to review the available literature comparing head-to-head [123I]-mIBG with the most common PET catecholaminergic radiopharmaceuticals.METHODS: We searched the PubMed database for studies performing a head-to-head comparison between [123I]-mIBG and PET radiopharmaceuticals including meta-hydroxyephedrine ([11C]C-HED), 18F-18F-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine ([18F]DOPA) [124I]mIBG and Meta-[18F]fluorobenzylguanidine ([18F]mFBG). Review articles, preclinical studies, small case series (< 5 subjects), case reports, and articles not in English were excluded. From each study, the following characteristics were extracted: bibliographic information, technical parameters, and the sensitivity of the procedure according to a patient-based analysis (PBA) and a lesion-based analysis (LBA).RESULTS: Ten studies were selected: two regarding [11C]C-HED, four [18F]DOPA, one [124I]mIBG, and three [18F]mFBG. These studies included 181 patients (range 5-46). For the PBA, the superiority of the PET method was reported in two out of ten studies (both using [18F]DOPA). For LBA, PET detected significantly more lesions than scintigraphy in seven out of ten studies.CONCLUSIONS: PET/CT using catecholaminergic tracers shows superior diagnostic performance than mIBG scintigraphy. However, it is still unknown if such superiority can influence clinical decision-making. Nonetheless, the PET examination appears promising for clinical practice as it offers faster image acquisition, less need for sedation, and a single-day examination.
AB - BACKGROUND: Molecular imaging is pivotal in staging and response assessment of children with neuroblastoma (NB). [123I]-metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) is the standard imaging method; however, it is characterised by low spatial resolution, time-consuming acquisition procedures and difficult interpretation. Many PET catecholaminergic radiotracers have been proposed as a replacement for [123I]-mIBG, however they have not yet made it into clinical practice. We aimed to review the available literature comparing head-to-head [123I]-mIBG with the most common PET catecholaminergic radiopharmaceuticals.METHODS: We searched the PubMed database for studies performing a head-to-head comparison between [123I]-mIBG and PET radiopharmaceuticals including meta-hydroxyephedrine ([11C]C-HED), 18F-18F-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine ([18F]DOPA) [124I]mIBG and Meta-[18F]fluorobenzylguanidine ([18F]mFBG). Review articles, preclinical studies, small case series (< 5 subjects), case reports, and articles not in English were excluded. From each study, the following characteristics were extracted: bibliographic information, technical parameters, and the sensitivity of the procedure according to a patient-based analysis (PBA) and a lesion-based analysis (LBA).RESULTS: Ten studies were selected: two regarding [11C]C-HED, four [18F]DOPA, one [124I]mIBG, and three [18F]mFBG. These studies included 181 patients (range 5-46). For the PBA, the superiority of the PET method was reported in two out of ten studies (both using [18F]DOPA). For LBA, PET detected significantly more lesions than scintigraphy in seven out of ten studies.CONCLUSIONS: PET/CT using catecholaminergic tracers shows superior diagnostic performance than mIBG scintigraphy. However, it is still unknown if such superiority can influence clinical decision-making. Nonetheless, the PET examination appears promising for clinical practice as it offers faster image acquisition, less need for sedation, and a single-day examination.
KW - 3-Iodobenzylguanidine
KW - Child
KW - Dihydroxyphenylalanine
KW - Humans
KW - Neuroblastoma/diagnostic imaging
KW - Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography/methods
KW - Positron-Emission Tomography/methods
KW - Radiopharmaceuticals
KW - [ I]MIBG, 18F-MFBG, 11C-HED
KW - Guideline
KW - PET-CT
KW - Neuroblastoma
KW - Catecholamine
KW - Paediatric PET
KW - [ F]F-DOPA
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176387519&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00259-023-06486-9
DO - 10.1007/s00259-023-06486-9
M3 - Review
C2 - 37962616
SN - 1619-7070
VL - 51
SP - 756
EP - 767
JO - European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
JF - European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
IS - 3
ER -