Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fibrosing interstitial lung disease with a poor prognosis. 68Ga-labeled FAP ligands exhibited highly promising results due to the crucial role of activated fibroblasts in fibrosis imaging of the lung. However, 18F-labeled FAP ligands might provide qualitatively much higher imaging results with accompanying economic benefits due to large-scale production. Thus, we sought to investigate the potential of [18F]FAPI-74 prospectively in a small patient cohort.
Methods: Eight patients underwent both [18F]FAPI-74-PET/CT and HRCT scans and were then compared with a control group without any fibrosing pulmonary disease. The tracer uptake of fibrotic lung areas was analyzed in synopsis with radiological and clinical parameters.
Results: We observed a positive correlation between the fibrotic active volume, the Hounsfield scale, as well as the vital and diffusing capacity of the lung.
Conclusion: The initial results confirm our assumption that [18F]FAPI-74 offers a viable non-invasive assessment method for pulmonary fibrotic changes in patients with IPF.
Keywords: FAPI; Fibroblast activation protein; Fibrosis; Idiopathic pulmonary disease; PET.
© 2023. The Author(s).