Default TitleUTILITY OF 6- [18F]-L-FLUORO-L-3, 4-DIHYDROXYPHENYLALANINE POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY-MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (18F-DOPA PET-MRI) METRICS AS A BIOMARKER FOR TREATMENT ASSESSMENT IN SARCOMA PATIENTS

Summary: Objectives: To test the clinical utility of 18F-DOPA PET/MRI in the treatment management of STS patients by: 1) Determining the correlations between 18F-DOPA PET/MRI metrics and tumor necrosis, and 2) Comparing changes in 18F-DOPA PET/MRI metrics baseline and post-treatment (post-neoadjuvant treatment) with pathologic response. We have demonstrated both technical and clinical feasibility using 18F-DOPA PET/MRI to image sarcoma tumors across anatomical areas. Our preliminary data shows a correlation with pathologic findings of necrosis/viable tumor within the surgical specimen. The SUVmax data might also have a dependency on tumor grade. This clinical trial is still in the early stages of data collection and analysis. Future analysis will include additional quantitative PET and MRI imaging metrics.