By using 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F)-labeled fluoromisonidazole (FMISO) PET imaging, Dr. Sadek Nehmeh assessed tumor hypoxia imaging in head-and-neck and lung cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation. In this work, compartmental kinetic modeling of FMISO-dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) images generated parametric maps of both tumor perfusion and tumor hypoxia. Identifying different tumor phenotypes based on the concordance/discordance between the two parametric maps, then implementing those findings in a dose-painting and dose-escalation radiotherapy scheme, is of particular interest. Currently, Dr. Nehmeh is leading a Phase I trial to simultaneously image tumor hypoxia and proliferation in glioblastoma by means of 18FMISO/18 fluorothymidine (FLT) PET.
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