Head-to-head comparison of 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT, 18F-FDG PET/CT, and contrast-enhanced CT for the detection of various tumors

Masao Watanabe, Wolfgang P. Fendler, Hong Grafe, Nader Hirmas, Rainer Hamacher, Helena Lanzafame, Kim M. Pabst, Hubertus Hautzel, Clemens Aigner, Stefan Kasper, Bastian von Tresckow, Martin Stuschke, Sherko Kümmel, Celine Lugnier, Boris Hadaschik, Viktor Grünwald, Fadi Zarrad, David Kersting, Jens T. Siveke, Ken HerrmannManuel Weber

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: FAPI-PET/CT exhibits high tumor uptake and low background accumulation, enabling high-sensitivity tumor detection. We compared the diagnostic performance of 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT plus contrast-enhanced CT (CE-CT), 18F-FDG PET/CT plus CE-CT, and standalone CE-CT in patients with various malignancies. Methods: 232 patients underwent 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT,18F-FDG PET/CT, and CE-CT each within 4 weeks. Detection rates were assessed by a blinded reader, with ≥ 2 weeks between scans of the same patient to avoid recall bias. A sub-analysis of diagnostic performance was performed for 490 histopathologically validated lesions. Detection rates were compared using McNemar’s test. Results: Lesion-based detection rates in 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT plus CE-CT, 18F-FDG PET/CT plus CE-CT, and CE-CT alone were 91.2% (1540/1688), 82.5% (1393/1688) and 60.2% (1016/1688). The detection rates were significantly higher for 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT plus CE-CT than for 18F-FDG PET/CT plus CE-CT (p < 0.02 for primary lesions and p < 0.001 for total, abdominopelvic nodal, liver and other visceral lesions) and CE-CT (p < 0.0001 for total, primary, cervicothoracic nodal, abdominopelvic nodal, liver, other visceral, and bone lesions). In the sub-analysis, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and accuracy were 61.3%, 96.7%, 81.4%, 91.4% and 90.0% for 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT plus CE-CT, 57.0%, 95.7%, 75.7%, 90.5% and 88.4% for 18F-FDG PET/CT plus CE-CT, and 51.6%, 97.2%, 81.4%, 89.6% and 88.6% for CECT, respectively. Conclusions: 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT plus CE-CT demonstrates a higher tumor detection rate than 18F-FDG PET/CT plus CE-CT and CE-CT in a diverse spectrum of malignancies, especially for primary, abdominopelvic nodal, liver, and other visceral lesions. Further studies on which entities draw particular benefit from 68 Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT are warranted to aid appropriate diagnostic workup. Trial registration: A total of N = 232 patients were analyzed. Of these, N = 50 patients were included in a prospective interventional trial (NCT05160051), and N = 175 in a prospective observational trial (NCT04571086) for correlation and clinical follow-up of PET findings; N = 7 patients were analyzed retrospectively.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)255-265
Number of pages11
JournalAnnals of Nuclear Medicine
Volume39
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2025
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Contrast-enhanced CT
  • Detection rate
  • F-FDG
  • PET/CT
  •  Ga-FAPI-46

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