Roll W,Hadjitheodorou P, Alevroudis E, Kyrou K, Adamou G, Fesas A, Wängler B, Wängler C, Schirrmacher R, Pourkhessalian MR, Kalogirou C, Tsechelidis I, Vrachimis A (2026) Head to head comparison of [18F]SiTATE versus [18F]DOPA-PET in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 53(3), 1803–1810.
DOI: 10.1007/s00259-025-07572-w.
Background: In neuroendocrine tumors molecular imaging methods play a key role, either targeting the somatostatin receptor or catecholamine pathways. [18F]SiTATE is a somatostatin receptor-targeting peptide that uses silicon fluoride acceptor (SiFA) radiochemistry, overcoming disadvantages of Gallium-68 labelled DOTA compounds. Here we present the first prospective data of [18F]SiTATE compared to [18F]DOPA-PET in NET patients.
Methods: 38 patients with suspected neuroendocrine tumors were prospectively included. All patients underwent both [18F]DOPA-PET and [18F]SiTATE-PET. The diagnostic performances were compared on a per-patient and per-lesion basis.
Results: 22 of 38 patients did not show [18F]DOPA- or [18F]SiTATE-PET positive disease. [18F]DOPA-PET was rated as the more accurate imaging modality in three cases and [18F]SiTATE-PET in four cases. [18F]SiTATE-PET showed a significantly higher sensitivity on a per lesion basis compared to [18F]DOPA-PET (n = 143; sensitivity [18F]SiTATE: 86.7%; [18F]DOPA: 73.4%; p = 0.016). Relative quantitative uptake values were not significantly different ([18F]SiTATE median Tumor to Background Ratio max (TBRmax): 8.2; [18F]DOPA TBRmax: 6.5; p = 0.247).
Conclusion: In this first prospective study, [18F]SiTATE-PET provided high tumor to background ratios in the majority of NET patients with complementary results to [18F]DOPA-PET.
