The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging wrapped up its annual meeting in New Orleans this week, demonstrating the growing influence of new PET radiotracers and the rise of theranostics as a discipline that forms the foundation of precision medicine.
The importance of new PET tracers is evident in the selection of SNMMI 2025’s Image of the Year, a peptide-based PET tracer called fluorine-18 AlF-NOTA-PCP2, developed by researchers from China for imaging patients with head and neck cancers.
- The tracer targets PD-L1 expression from tumors, and in an SNMMI 2025 study with 40 patients, it outperformed conventional FDG-PET. Clinical availability is expected in the next 2-3 years.
SNMMI’s Abstract of the Year went to a Canadian study using PET with GE HealthCare’s Flyrcado fluorine-18 flurpiridaz cardiac radiotracer.
- In 220 patients with coronary artery disease, Flyrcado accurately quantified myocardial flow reserve after exercise and pharmacologic stress, creating the possibility of a first-line test for people with CAD.
Other SNMMI 2025 highlights included …
- PET with a carbon-11 ER176 TSPO radiotracer detected specific patterns of brain inflammation in people with a neurodegenerative disorder that affects speech.
- A therapeutic radiopharmaceutical, lutetium-177-labeled FAPI-RGD, targeted two key oncology markers and showed potential to treat multiple cancers at once.
- Mold species that are linked to infections in transplant patients were detected by the fluorine-18 FDS radiotracer, which identified 30 species of disease-causing molds.
- Bacterial lung infections were targeted by a carbon-11 PABA PET radiotracer in early-stage studies.
- A dual-mode cardiac imaging technique combining PET/CT and PET/MRI quantified myocardial fibrosis burden in patients with primary aldosteronism.
- A gallium-68-labeled PET radiotracer called aGPC3-scFv detected hepatocellular carcinoma, including tumors <1 cm.
- Neuroinflammation was detected with PET using fluorine-18 PDE-1905, which targets PDE4B expression in neuroinflammatory diseases.
- Two new PET tracers showed promise for CNS imaging by identifying H3 receptors expressed in neurological and psychiatric conditions.
- In what could be a first, three PET radiotracers were visualized in a single scan in a technique researchers called multiplexed PET.
- Researchers combined upright PET with an augmented reality headset and eye tracking technology to study brain function.
The Takeaway
Nuclear medicine has long been considered one of the less dynamic areas of medical imaging, but that’s changing with its new focus on theranostics. This year’s SNMMI 2025 shows the progress being made, with more advances on the horizon.
