Synapse - Programmed death ligand-1 PET imaging in patients with melanoma: A pilot study

Programmed death ligand-1 PET imaging in patients with melanoma: A pilot study Journal Article

Authors:	Pandit-Taskar, N.; Mauguen, A.; Frosina, D.; Jungbluth, A.; Busam, K. J.; Lyashchenko, S.; Schwartz, J.; Momtaz, P.; Warner, A. B.; Smithy, J. W.; Shoushtari, A. N.; Callahan, M. K.; Chapman, P. B.; Postow, M. A.
Article Title:	Programmed death ligand-1 PET imaging in patients with melanoma: A pilot study
Abstract:	Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is an inducible protein heterogeneously expressed in melanoma. Assessment of PD-L1 expression is challenging and standard immunohistochemistry (IHC) requires biopsies and cannot capture heterogeneity of expression. Noninvasive imaging methods provide evaluation of expression across lesions in the body. We conducted a prospective pilot trial with PD-L1 PET imaging with [18F]-BMS-986229 as a noninvasive approach to assess PD-L1 expression across lesions, in 10 patients with advanced melanoma, longitudinally during treatment with nivolumab and ipilimumab. PET imaging was performed at baseline and at 6 weeks after-initiation of treatment. We examined the relationship of PD-L1 PET uptake to radiographic clinical response. [18F]-BMS-986229 uptake was variably seen across lesions in patients at baseline. All patients showed positive uptake in lesions at baseline PET with a median SUVmax of 3.6 (range: 1.7-8.6). PD-L1 PET SUVmax decreased in all but two lesions 6 weeks after treatment initiation. Four of five patients had a mean (SUVmax) greater than or equal to 3.00 in Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) evaluable lesions at baseline, and all had a RECIST response while all progressors (n = 3) had baseline PD-L1 mean SUVmax less than or equal to 2.60. A higher lesional baseline SUVmax was associated with greater individual lesion reduction during treatment. The PD-L1 uptake in lesions showed a low correlation with baseline PD-L1 by IHC. In this small pilot study, PD-L1 PET imaging using [18F]-BMS-986229 showed feasibility in noninvasively assessing lesion uptake and PD-L1 heterogeneity in patients receiving combination immunotherapy. Future exploration of this tracer in larger patient cohorts is necessary to delineate its use in managing immunotherapy treatments. © 2025 The Author(s).
Keywords:	melanoma; immunotherapy; pd-l1; immunopet; [<sup>18</sup>f]-bms-986229
Journal Title:	Melanoma Research
ISSN:	0960-8931
Publisher:	Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Publication status:	Online ahead of print
Date Published:	2025-06-25
Online Publication Date:	2025-06-25
Language:	English
DOI:	10.1097/cmr.0000000000001050
PROVIDER:	scopus
PUBMED:	40557547
DOI/URL:	https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105009016316&doi=10.1097%2fCMR.0000000000001050&partnerID=40&md5=d0d20c6cc76b39fafaeb1044e8c92981
Notes:	The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledged in the PDF. Corresponding MSK author is Michael A. Postow -- Source: Scopus