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@ARTICLE{Sachpekidis:170546,
author = {C. Sachpekidis$^*$ and A. Kopp-Schneider$^*$ and J. C.
Hassel and A. Dimitrakopoulou-Strauss$^*$},
title = {{A}ssessment of early metabolic progression in melanoma
patients under immunotherapy: an 18{F}-{FDG} {PET}/{CT}
study.},
journal = {EJNMMI Research},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
issn = {2191-219X},
address = {Heidelberg},
publisher = {Springer},
reportid = {DKFZ-2021-02000},
pages = {89},
year = {2021},
note = {#EA:E060#LA:E060#},
abstract = {The usage of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is the
standard practice for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
However, a significant amount of patients show no response
to immunotherapy, while issues on its reliable response
interpretation exist. Aim of this study was to investigate
the phenomenon of early disease progression in
2-deoxy-2-(18F)fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission
tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in melanoma patients
treated with ICIs.Thirty-one patients under ICIs serially
monitored with 18F-FDG PET/CT were enrolled. All patients
exhibited progressive metabolic disease (PMD) after two
ICIs' cycles according to the European Organization for
Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) criteria, and were
characterized as unconfirmed PMD (uPMD). They were further
followed with at least one PET/CT for either confirmation of
PMD (cPMD) or demonstration of pseudoprogression remission.
Patients were also evaluated with the PET Response
Evaluation Criteria for Immunotherapy (PERCIMT). Moreover,
in an attempt to investigate immune activation, the spleen
to liver ratios (SLRmean, SLRmax) of 18F-FDG uptake were
measured.Median follow up was 69.7 months [64.6-NA].
According to EORTC, 26/31 patients with uPMD eventually
showed cPMD $(83.9\%)$ and 5/31 patients showed
pseudoprogression $(16.1\%).$ Patients with cPMD (n = 26)
had a median OS of 10.9 months [8.5-NA], while those with
pseudoprogression (n = 5) did not reach a median OS
[40.9-NA]. Respectively, after application of PERCIMT, 2/5
patients of the pseudoprogression group were correctly
classified as non-PMD, reducing the uPMD cohort to 29
patients; eventually, 26/29 patients demonstrated cPMD
$(89.7\%)$ and 3/29 pseudoprogression $(10.3\%).$ One
further patient with pseudoprogression exhibited transient,
sarcoid-like, mediastinal/hilar lymphadenopathy, a known
immune-related adverse event (irAE). Finally, patients
eventually showing cPMD exhibited a significantly higher
SLRmean than those showing pseudoprogression after two ICIs'
cycles (p = 0.038).PET/CT, performed already after
administration of two ICIs' cycles, can identify the
majority of non-responders in melanoma immunotherapy. In
order to tackle however, the non-negligible phenomenon of
pseudoprogression, another follow-up PET/CT, the usage of
novel response criteria and vigilance over emergence of
radiological irAEs are recommended. Moreover, the
investigation of spleen glucose metabolism may offer further
prognostic information in melanoma patients under ICIs.},
keywords = {18F-FDG PET/CT (Other) / Confirmed progressive disease
(Other) / Immunotherapy (Other) / Metastatic melanoma
(Other) / Pseudoprogression (Other) / Spleen glucose
metabolism (Other) / Unconfirmed progressive disease
(Other)},
cin = {E060 / C060},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-He78)E060-20160331 / I:(DE-He78)C060-20160331},
pnm = {315 - Bildgebung und Radioonkologie (POF4-315)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-315},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:34495433},
doi = {10.1186/s13550-021-00832-4},
url = {https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/170546},
}