PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Ankit Watts AU - Baljinder Singh AU - Harmandeep Singh AU - Harneet Kaur AU - Amanjit Bal AU - Mehak Vohra AU - Sunil K Arora AU - Digambar Behera TI - Gallium-68-Pentixafor PET/CT demonstrating in vivo CXCR4 receptors’ overexpression in rare lung malignancies: Correlation with the histological and histochemical findings AID - 10.2967/jnmt.122.264141 DP - 2022 May 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology PG - jnmt.122.264141 4099 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2022/05/24/jnmt.122.264141.short 4100 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2022/05/24/jnmt.122.264141.full AB - Objectives: Gallium-68 [68Ga] Pentixafor PET/CT imaging allows non-invasive assessment of CXCR4 expression in various malignancies, but its use in rare lung cancer variants is not reported. Methods: [68Ga] Pentixafor PET/CT imaging was performed in 6 patients (3M:3F; mean age=57.0±16.80 years) with suspected lung masses. Whole-body PET/CT images were acquired at 1-h after the i.v. injection of 148.0-185.0 MBq of the tracer. PET/CT images were reconstructed and analysed. The image findings were correlated with histopathological and quantitative (CXCR4-receptors) FACS analysis. Results: Histopathological diagnosis of haemangioendothelioma, sarcomatoid carcinoma and hemangiopericytoma was confirmed in 1-patient each. Lung metastasis was diagnosed in the remaining 3/6 patients with primary sarcoma (n = 1), RCC (n = 1) and unknown primary (n = 1). Increased tracer uptake in the primary lung mass with SUVmax values of 3.0, 6.3 and 13.0 were noted in hemangiopericytoma, sarcomatoid carcinoma and haemangioendothelioma cases respectively. The mean values of SUVmax, MFI and % stained cells were highest in haemangioendothelioma. Among 3 patients with lung metastases, the highest SUVmax value of 9.5 was observed in primary sarcoma patient. Conclusion: [68Ga] Pentixafor selectively targets the in vivo whole-body disease burden of CXCR4 receptors. This approach thus holds good promise for developing suitable radio-theranostics in lung cancers expressing these targets.