Vasculitis & polymyalgia rheumatica
Establishing C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 as a novel imaging target in giant cell arteritis
Authors' conclusion
CXCR4-targeted [68Ga]PentixaFor PET/CT provides an imaging pattern comparable to [18F]FDG PET/CT in untreated GCA and reliably differentiates between inflamed and non-inflamed vessels.
Study context
- Population
- Treatment-naïve patients with confirmed large-vessel giant cell arteritis (GCA); 13 arterial segments per patient analysed10 GCA, 5 controls
- Participants
- 10 / 10 / 5
- Comparison
- [68Ga]PentixaFor (CXCR4-targeted) PET/CT vs [18F]FDG PET/CT in GCA; PentixaFor in GCA vs Non-GCA controls
- FDGn = 10reference
- PentixaForn = 10
- Non-GCA controlsn = 5
- Outcome
- Mean vascular TBR (arterial SUVmax / superior vena cava SUVmean), GCA
Methodological detailsprospective comparison of two PET tracers in the same patients, Non-GCA controls
- Prospective comparison of two PET tracers in the same patients
- Non-GCA controls
Performance
As reported in the abstract
FDG
2.43
mean · ± 0.90
PentixaFor
1.76
mean · ± 0.76
P = 0.07
Further findings
| Outcome | Non-GCA controls | P value |
|---|---|---|
| PentixaFor TBR, Non-GCA controls vs GCASignificantly lower in Non-GCA controls | 1.15 ± 0.10 | P = 0.01 |
Segment-level target-to-background ratios (TBR), FDG vs PentixaFor
- No significant differences in vascular regions
- 10/13
- FDG uptake higher in selected arteries
Blood pool SUVmean
- Did not differ, suggesting minimal signal spill-in
CXCR4 expression on leukocyte subsets (flow cytometry, normalized median fluorescence intensity (NMFI))
- Highest on naïve T-helper cells and monocytes
Original publication
Establishing C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 as a novel imaging target in giant cell arteritis. Arthritis Res Ther. Published 11 February 2026. doi:10.
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