Researchers have developed a new nuclear medicine imaging method that works by targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), sharing their findings in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

CAFs can be found in most epithelial carcinomas. They contain fibroblast activation protein (FAP), which is known to play a role in tumor growth.

“The appearance of FAP in CAFs in many epithelial tumors and the fact that overexpression is associated with a worse prognosis led to the hypothesis that FAP activity is involved in cancer development, as well as in cancer cell migration and spread,” co-author Uwe Haberkorn, MD, professor of nuclear medicine at Germany’s University Hospital of Heidelberg and at the German Cancer Research Center, said in a prepared statement. “Therefore, the targeting of this enzyme for imaging and endoradiotherapy can be considered as a promising strategy for the detection and treatment of malignant tumors.”

The authors developed a PET tracer based on a FAP-specific enzyme inhibitor, which outperformed fluorodeoxyglucose and produced high-contrast images in animals and three actual patients.