title: Realizing the potential of positron emission tomography with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose to improve the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) thus far rarely has been used to advance the development of new treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Now that FDG-PET with standard acquisition protocols for dementia is widely available, change in cerebral glucose metabolism is a feasible outcome variable for clinical drug trials. Individual analysis of FDG-PET results also might prove valuable. FDG-PET can detect metabolic changes very early in the course of AD and identify subjects for earlier treatment. FDG-PET reliably distinguishes AD from frontotemporal dementia so that only those most likely to benefit are enrolled in trials. Finally, objectively identifying phenotypic variations of AD with FDG-PET might have pathogenic and prognostic implications that can be used for personalized treatment approaches. The judicious use of FDG-PET is needed to accelerate the evaluation of promising new drugs and more rationally target treatments for dementing diseases.
authors.affiliation: Center for Alzheimer's Care, Imaging and Research, Department of Neurology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. norman.foster@hsc.utah.edu
authors.forename: Norman L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Angela Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tolga
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tasdizen
authors.forename: P Thomas
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Koeppe
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18