Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar;51(4):1109-1120.
doi: 10.1007/s00259-023-06517-5. Epub 2023 Nov 30.

Early, non-invasive detection of radiation-induced lung injury using PET/CT by targeting CXCR4

Jinli Pei #  1 , Kai Cheng #  2 , Tianxin Liu  1   3 , Min Gao  1 , Shijie Wang  1 , Shengnan Xu  1 , Yanluan Guo  2 , Li Ma  2 , Wanhu Li  2 , Bolin Wang  1   3 , Jinming Yu  1 , Jie Liu  4
Affiliations

Early, non-invasive detection of radiation-induced lung injury using PET/CT by targeting CXCR4

Jinli Pei et al. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a severe side effect of radiotherapy (RT) for thoracic malignancies and we currently lack established methods for the early detection of RILI. In this study, we synthesized a new tracer, [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04, targeting C-X-C-chemokine-receptor-type-4 (CXCR4) and investigated its feasibility to detect RILI.

Methods: An RILI rat model was constructed and scanned with [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04 PET/CT and [18F]FDG PET/CT periodically after RT. Dynamic, blocking, autoradiography, and histopathological studies were performed on the day of peak uptake. Fourteen patients with radiation pneumonia, developed during or after thoracic RT, were subjected to PET scan using [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04.

Results: The yield of [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04 was 28.5-43.2%, and the specific activity was 27-33 GBq/μmol. [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04 was mainly excreted through the kidney. Significant increased [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04 uptake in the irradiated lung compared with that in the normal lung in the RILI model was observed on day 6 post-RT and peaked on day 14 post-RT, whereas no apparent uptake of [18F]FDG was shown on days 7 and 15 post-RT. MicroCT imaging did not show pneumonia until 42 days post-RT. Significant intense [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04 uptake was confirmed by autoradiography. Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated expression of CXCR4 was significantly increased in the irradiated lung tissue, which correlated with results obtained from hematoxylin-eosin and Masson's trichrome staining. In 14 patients with radiation pneumonia, maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) were significantly higher in the irradiated lung compared with those in the normal lung. SUVmax of patients with grade 2 RILI was significantly higher than that of patients with grade 1 RILI.

Conclusion: This study indicated that [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04 PET/CT imaging can detect RILI non-invasively and earlier than [18F]FDG PET/CT in a rat model. Clinical studies verified its feasibility, suggesting the clinical potential of [18F]AlF-NOTA-QHY-04 as a PET/CT tracer for early monitoring of RILI.

Keywords: C-X-C-chemokine-receptor-type-4; Molecular imaging; PET/CT; Radiation-induced lung injury.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Yan Y, Fu J, Kowalchuk R, Wright C, Zhang R, Li X, Xu Y. Exploration of radiation-induced lung injury, from mechanism to treatment: a narrative review. Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2022;11(2):307–22. https://doi.org/10.21037/tlcr-22-108 . - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Giuranno L, Ient J, De Ruysscher D, Vooijs MA. Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI). Front Oncol. 2019;9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2019.00877.
    1. Hanania AN, Mainwaring W, Ghebre YT, Hanania NA, Ludwig M. Radiation-induced lung injury: assessment and management. Chest. 2019:156(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2019.03.033.
    1. Désogèr P, Tapias LF, Rietz TA, Rotile N, Blasi F, Day, H, Elliott J, Fuchs BC, Lanuti M, Caravan P. Optimization of a collagen-targeted PET probe for molecular imaging of pulmonary fibrosis. J Nucl Med. 2017. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.117.193532 .
    1. Désogèr P, Tapias LF, Hariri LP, Rotile N, Rietz TA, Probst CK, Blasi F, Day H, et al. Type I collagen–targeted PET probe for pulmonary fibrosis detection and staging in preclinical models. Sci Transl Med 2017. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf4696 .

LinkOut - more resources