68Ga-FAPI-PET/CT improves diagnostic staging and radiotherapy planning of adenoid cystic carcinomas - Imaging analysis and histological validation

Background: Adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACCs) are rare epithelial tumors mostly situated in the head and neck region and characterized by infiltrative growth. The tumor stroma of ACCs includes cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) expressing Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP), a new target for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Here we describe the value of PET/computed tomography (PET/ CT) imaging using Ga-68-labelled FAP-Inhibitors (Ga-68-FAPI-PET/CT) and their clinical potential for staging and radiotherapy planning in 12 ACC patients (7 primary, 5 recurrent). Patients and methods: Patients underwent contrast enhanced staging CT (ceCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (ceMRI) before Ga-68-FAPI - PET/CT. PET-scans were acquired 10, 60 and 180 minutes after administration of 150-250 MBq of Ga-68-labelled FAPI tracers. SUVmax and SUVmean values of ACCs and healthy organs were obtained using a 60% of maximum iso-contour. FAP and alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) immunohistochemistry was performed in 13 cases (3 with and 10 without Ga-68 FAPI-PET/CT). Staging and radiotherapy planning based on Ga-68-FAPI-PET/CT versus ceCT/MRI alone were compared. Results: We observed elevated tracer uptake in all ACCs. Immunohistochemistry showed FAP-expressing CAFs in the tumor. Compared to conventional staging, Ga-68-FAPI-PET/CT led to upstaging in 2/12 patients and to detection of additional metastases in 3 patients, thus in total 42% of patients had their staging altered. Moreover, Ga-68-FAPI PET improved the accuracy of target volume delineation for radiotherapy, as compared to CT and MRI. Conclusion: Ga-68-FAPI-PET/CT is a promising imaging modality for ACC, increasing the accuracy of staging exams and radiotherapy planning volumes, as compared conventional to CT and MRI. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.