Diagnostic efficacy of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTA-GPFAPI-04 in patients with solid tumors in a head-to-head comparison with [¹⁸F]F-FDG: results from a prospective clinical study

To identify the biodistribution and diagnostic performance of a novel fibroblast activation protein (FAP) targeted positron emission tomography (PET) tracer, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTA-GPFAPI-04, in patients with solid tumors in a head-to-head comparison with [¹⁸F]F-FDG.

Twenty-six patients histologically proven with cancers of nasopharyngeal (n = 5), esophagus (n = 5), gastro-esophagus (n = 1), stomach (n = 7), liver (n = 3), and colorectum (n = 5) were recruited for [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTA-GPFAPI-04 and [¹⁸F]F-FDG PET/CT scans on consecutive days. The primary endpoint was the diagnostic efficacy, with the histological diagnosis and the follow-up results selected as the gold standard. The secondary endpoint was the background uptake pattern. Two experienced nuclear medicine physicians who were blinded to the gold standard results while having essential awareness of the clinical context reviewed the images and labeled lesions by consensus for subsequent software-assisted lesion segmentation. Additionally, background organs were automatically segmented, assisted by artificial intelligence. Volume, mean, and maximum standard uptake values (SUVmean and SUVmax) of all segmentations were recorded. P < 0.05 was deemed as statistically significant.

Significant glandular uptake of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTA-GPFAPI-04 was detected in the thyroid, pancreas, and submandibular glands, while moderate uptake was observed in the parotid glands. The myocardium and myometrium exhibited 2–3 times higher uptake of the radiotracer than that of the background levels in blood and liver. A total of 349 targeted lesions, consisting of 324 malignancies and 25 benign lesions, were segmented. [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTA-GPFAPI-04 is more sensitive than [¹⁸F]F-FDG, especially for abdominopelvic dissemination (1.000 vs. 0.475, P < 0.001). Interestingly, [¹⁸F]F-FDG demonstrated higher sensitivity for lung metastasis compared to [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTA-GPFAPI-04 (0.845 vs. 0.682, P = 0.003). The high glandular uptake made it difficult to delineate lesions in close proximity and masked two metastatic lesions in these organs.

Despite prominent glandular uptake, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTA-GPFAPI-04 demonstrates favorable diagnostic performance. It is a promising probe scaffold for further development of FAP-targeted tumor theranostic agents.