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Introduction: Accurate staging of patients with locally advanced breast cancer or locoregional recurrent (LRR) breast cancer is essential for providing a tailored treatment. According to current guidelines, staging is preferably done with positron emission tomography (PET) using 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ([18F]FDG), combined with diagnostic computed tomography (CT). Previous studies suggest that [18F]FDG PET might underperform in patients with grade 1-2, estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer as these tumors are often metabolically less active than other subtypes of breast cancer. Thus, there is a need to improve current diagnostics for this population. 16α-[18F]-fluoro-17β-estradiol ([18F]FES), radioactive labeled estradiol, has emerged as a powerful imaging tool for in vivo visualization of ER+ lesions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether [18F]FES PET/CT improves staging of patients with clinical stage II/III or LRR ER+ breast cancer, compared to [18F]FDG PET/CT. Methods: Patients with clinical stage II/III or LRR 1-2, ER+ breast cancer were included in this prospective multicenter clinical trial (NCT03726931). All patients underwent a [18F]FES PET/CT and a [18F]FDG PET/CT scan. Both PET scans were visually assessed, independently of each other. Visually suspect lesions for malignancy were verified pathologically (by biopsy or fine needle aspiration) or by conventional imaging (mammography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, CT). The stage of the disease was determined twice in a multidisciplinary team, based on conventional diagnostics (conventional imaging and pathology) and [18F]FDG PET/CT or [18F]FES PET/CT, respectively. Semi-quantitative PET parameters, standardized uptake values (SUVs) and tumor-to-blood ratios (TBRs), were obtained by defining volumes of interest in the aorta ascendens and in suspect tumor lesions. These PET parameters were correlated with various pathological features, such as histological subtype, grade and ER, progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression. Results: A total of 40 patients were included. On patient level, the sensitivity of [18F]FES PET/CT and [18F]FDG PET/CT to detect ER+ disease was 87.5% and 82.5%, respectively. [18F]FES PET/CT correctly determined the stage in 34/40 patients (85.0%) whereas [18F]FDG PET/CT correctly determined the stage in 29/40 patients (72.5%). [18F]FES PET/CT correctly changed the stage in 8/40 patients (20.0%) with upstaging in 6 patients and downstaging in 2 patients, compared to [18F]FDG PET/CT. On lesion level, a total of 140 suspect lesions were analyzed: 82 lesions were pathologically verified whereas 58 were radiographically verified. The sensitivity for lesion detection on [18F]FES PET/CT and [18F]FDG PET/CT was 90.6% and 77.3%, respectively. [18F]FES PET/CT identified more lesions correctly: 120/140 (85.7%) lesions vs 103/140 (73.6%) on [18F]FES PET/CT vs [18F]FDG PET/CT, respectively. [18F]FES PET/CT also missed less lesions (12/140, 8.6%) compared to [18F]FDG PET/CT (29/140, 20.7%). [18F]FES SUVmax, SUVmean, SUVpeak and TBR correlated with ductal subtype and percentage of PR expression (p Citation Format: Ramsha Iqbal, Emma C Bonjer, Annette van Zweeden, Lemonitsa H Mammatas, Jaap JM Teunissen, Jan Booij, Gwen MP Diepenhorst, Laura Schijf, Susanne van der Velde, Katya Duvivier, Ellis Barbé, Daniela E Oprea-Lager, Catharina W Menke-van der Houven van Oordt. Towards a new standard for staging: A comparative study of [18F]FES PET/CT vs [18F]FDG PET/CT in patients with clinical stage II/III and locoregional recurrent estrogen receptor positive breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-02-11.

Most high stage neuroblastoma initially respond to chemotherapy, but ultimately relapse as therapy-resistant tumor. The mechanisms driving relapse and resistance remain elusive. We observed that new neuroblastoma cell lines cultured in defined medium always include two phenotypically divergent cell types. Whole genome sequencing showed that both types were genetically identical. One cell type has a neuro-epithelial (NE) phenotype and expresses all classical and diagnostically used neuroblastoma markers. The other type has a mesenchymal (MES) character, lacks all neuroblastoma markers and is highly motile. MES cells are more chemo-resistant in vitro as compared to NE cells. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) of primary neuroblastoma detected a small fraction of MES cells in most tumors. However, MES cells were strongly enriched in surgically removed post-chemotherapy samples. Moreover, neuroblastoma patients that had been tumor-free for several years but relapsed, also showed a strong accumulation of MES type cells in their relapses as compared to the primary tumors. As these data suggest a major role for this new neuroblastoma cell type in development of therapy-resistant relapses, we analyzed their key regulatory pathways. In multiple cell line models, the homeobox gene PRRX1 was identified as a master regulator that converted the NE phenotype in a MES phenotype. PRRX1 concomitantly induced a chemo-resistant phenotype in vitro. PRRX1 activated a cascade of MEK, NOTCH and PDGFRβ signaling. Also NOTCH was able to induce the mesenchymal phenotype, as well as chemo-resistance. Analysis of the PRRX1-induced downstream signaling pathway identified several drugable key-players, like MEK and PDGFRβ. Targeting them with small-molecule inhibitors specifically killed MES cells in vitro. Our data suggest that neuroblastoma is a bi-phasic tumor. MES and NE cells have very different characteristics, but can transdifferentiate into each other. MES cells strongly accumulate after chemo-therapy and in relapses. They may survive classical therapy and seed relapses, that ultimately become heterogeneous again. Targeted elimination of MES cells with small molecule inhibitors shows how cells with a potential key role in relapse development are amenable to therapy. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Tim van Groningen, Natalia E. Nowakowska, Nurdan Akogul, Marloes Broekmans, Johannes Bras, Jan Booij, Marli E. Ebus, Jan J. Molenaar, Ellen M. Westerhout, Mohamed Hamdi, Peter van Sluis, Jan Koster, Bart A. Westerman, Godelieve A. Tytgat, Rogier Versteeg, Johan van Nes. Neuroblastoma is biphasic with classical neuro-epithelial cells and chemoresistant mesenchymal cells controlled by PRRX1-NOTCH signaling. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-209. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-209