From Clinical Trials to Memory Clinics, Tau-PET Visual Reads Can Help Diagnosis and Patient Stratification.

Abstract

With the emergence of disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer disease (AD), it is imperative that standardized approaches to interpret relevant biomarkers are validated and clinically available. [18F]-flortaucipir was the first PET tracer to show high affinity and selectivity for AD tau neurofibrillary tangles. [18F]-flortaucipir binding has higher specificity for determining dementia due to underlying AD than amyloid biomarkers because these can detect incidental or secondary β-amyloid (Aβ) pathology. The topography of [18F]-flortaucipir binding is strongly associated with distinct clinical variants, neurodegeneration, and clinical decline in AD.1 Furthermore, in recent drug trials, patients with low-to-medium [18F]-flortaucipir binding at baseline derived greater clinical benefit from amyloid plaque lowering than those with baseline high tau-PET signal.