Reston, VA (October 23, 2026)—New research has been published ahead-of-print by The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM). JNM is published by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and theranostics—precision medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Summaries of the newly published research articles are provided below.
PET Imaging Tracks Targeted Cancer Therapy in HER2-Low Tumors
Researchers evaluated PET imaging with radiolabeled trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), a targeted cancer therapy, across 11 preclinical tumor models. Imaging detected therapy accumulation across tumors with varying HER2 levels. In mice receiving T-DXd, changes in tumor uptake between weeks one and two correlated with changes in tumor volume.
Targeted Alpha Therapy Shows Promise Against Resistant Uterine Cancer
Uterine serous carcinoma is an aggressive endometrial cancer that can resist standard HER2-targeted treatment. In preclinical studies, 211At–labeled trastuzumab specifically targeted HER2-positive cancer cells and reduced their viability. A single dose also significantly suppressed tumor growth in three mouse models representing different forms of trastuzumab resistance, without severe toxicity.
PET Imaging Reveals Metabolic Patterns Linked to Pancreatic Tumor Outcomes
A study of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors found that higher uptake of 18F-DOPA on PET imaging was associated with gene activity linked to amino acid transport, more advanced disease features, and shorter event-free survival. Increased expression of the amino acid transporter gene SLC7A5 was also associated with poorer outcomes across patient cohorts.
Synaptic PET Imaging Evaluated for Diagnosing Causes of Cognitive Decline
A study compared 18F-SynVesT-1 PET/MRI, which assesses synaptic integrity, with standard 18F-FDG PET for distinguishing causes of cognitive decline in 94 patients. For Alzheimer disease, 18F-SynVesT-1 showed lower diagnostic sensitivity. For frontotemporal degeneration, visual assessments showed similar sensitivity and specificity between the two imaging approaches.
FAPI PET Identifies Potential Distant Metastases in Gastric Cancer
A prospective study compared 68Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT with standard 18F-FDG PET/CT and contrast-enhanced CT in 20 patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. FAPI PET identified potential distant metastases in four patients, potentially shifting treatment recommendations from curative-intent to palliative care in three.
uPAR PET Predicts Recurrence Risk in Resectable Lung Cancer
A study of 37 patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer evaluated whether preoperative 68Ga-uPAR PET/CT could predict postoperative recurrence. Higher tracer uptake, reflecting the tumor protein uPAR associated with invasion and metastatic spread, was linked to recurrence. Standard 18F-FDG PET/CT uptake was not predictive in this cohort.
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