Third Theranostics World Congress on Gallium-68 and PRRT: Abstracts

Abstract

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and Johns Hopkins University convened to cosponsor the Third Theranostics World Congress on Gallium-68 and PRRT, a conference held March 12–14, 2015, on the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus in Baltimore. This Congress provided updates on recent developments in the exciting fi eld of theranostics—a term that epitomizes the inseparability of diagnosis and therapy, the pillars of medicine, and takes into account personalized management of the disease for a specifi c patient. Innovative applications for and results of new research on 68 Ga-labeled PET radiopharmaceuticals, including PSMA-and CXCR4-targeted imaging, were presented. Radionuclide therapy applying the same peptides labeled with β emitters such as 177 Lu or 90 Y for peptide radioligand therapy of prostate cancer, small cell lung cancer, lymphoma, and other malignancies, along with a discussion of novel peptides (e.g., somatostatin antagonists for imaging and therapy of neuroendocrine tumors), rounded out the program. The increase in enthusiasm for 68 Ga use over the last few years can be ascribed to several factors, some of which promise an increasing role for 68 Ga as a theranostic tool in the selection of patients for peptide receptor radiotherapy (PRRT). Although widely used in Europe for more than a decade, 68 Ga and 177 Lu, as well as 90 Y-labeled somatostatin receptor ligands, have been used in the United States only in trials under Investigational New Drug applications (e.g., 68 Ga DOTATOC, DOTATATE, or DOTANOC) or in clinical trials (177 Lu DOTATATE). Efforts to obtain approval of these ligands in the United States have increased signifi cantly over the past 2 years, and the potential of soon having an approved agent available in the United States is promising. The program was uniquely developed to dedicate specifi c days to presenting work on related topics. Thursday was devoted to radiochemistry, peptide labeling, and updates on 68 Ga generators, modules, and postprocessing. Friday covered both preclinical and clinical topics, and Saturday provided information for clinicians and patients, with a session dedicated to the current approval status of 68 Ga-labeled agents in the United States. The congress included 2 plenary presentations. The Thursday plenary speaker was Prof.