Florbetaben to Trace Amyloid-β in the Alzheimer Brain by Means of PET

PET imaging of amyloid-beta has recently emerged as a valuable biomarker to support the in vivo diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). So far, however, no tracer is available suitable for general clinical routine application. Florbetaben is a promising F-18-labeled amyloid-beta-targeted PET tracer currently in Phase2/3 clinical development. This review provides an overview on the current knowledge and future research activities on florbetaben. Recently, the first worldwide multi-center trial to test the diagnostic performance of amyloid-beta PET in AD was conducted with this tracer. From this trial, a sensitivity and specificity of 80 and 91% in the discrimination between patients with probable AD and age-matched healthy controls was reported. Ongoing florbetaben PET trials deal with correlating the in vivo PET signal to post mortem histopathology evaluation, and with investigating the value of the tracer to predict progression to AD at the stage of mild cognitive impairment. The preclinical and clinical data currently available verify florbetaben as a safe and efficacious PET tracer suitable for detection of amyloid-beta deposition in the brain. The results of the ongoing trials will contribute to current knowledge on the characteristics of florbetaben, and will help to determine the future potential of florbetaben PET imaging as a visual adjunct to supplement the routine clinical "AD diagnostic toolbox".