68Ga-NOTA-NFB PET/CT imaging in breast cancer: clinical study of a new targeted agent for chemokine receptor 4 / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical application of chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4)-targeted PET/CT imaging in breast cancer using 68Ga-1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triacetic acid-TN14003 (NOTA-NFB) and the correlation between 68Ga-NOTA-NFB uptake and pathology.Methods From June 2014 to December 2014,11 female patients (age range38-68 years) with non-specific invasive breast cancer were recruited in this study.All patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery.68GaNOTA-NFB and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging were performed before the chemotherapy.Three patients also underwent 68Ga-NOTA-NFB PET/CT imaging after the fourth cycle of chemotherapy.The region of interest (ROI) method was used to measure the maximum standardized value (SUVmax) and tumor/non-tumor (T/NT) ratio was calculated.Paired t test and Spearman correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis.Results The SUVmax values of primary lesions were 3.78±2.03 and 8.11±5.14 (t=-3.01,P＜0.05) respectively in 68Ga-NOTA-NFB imaging and 18F-FDG imaging.The T/NT ratios for primary lesions were not significantly different between the two imaging methods (9.36±7.81 vs 15.62±14.51;t=-1.63,P＞0.05).In the metastatic lymph nodes,SUVmax values were not significantly different between 68Ga-NOTA-NFB imaging and 18F-FDG imaging (t=-2.02,P＞0.05),but T/NT ratios were significantly different (t=-2.43,P＜0.05).After neoadjuvant chemotherapy,T/NT ratios were decreased in the 3 patients.Correlation was not found between T/NT in 68Ga-NOTA-NFB imaging and Ki-67,but the P value was close to 0.05 (rs =0.600,P=0.051).Conclusion 68Ga-NOTA-NFB PET/CT can be used as a new CXCR4-targered imaging in diagnosis of breast cancer,and it may be beneficial to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.