Current state and upcoming opportunities for immunoPET biomarkers in lung cancer

Immune oncology therapy (IO) has now become an important treatment option for patients with a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, a substantial proportion of patients still fails to benefit from IO. Predictive biomarkers and biomarkers that provide insights in the biological processes at the tumor microenvironment (TME) level could enhance the beneficial impact of IO, and lead to improved drug development strategies. Immune positron emission tomography (immunoPET) has the potential to provide such biomarkers, by using highly-specific, radiolabeled tracers to investigate key targets in the TME with PET imaging. This review will highlight developments in immunoPET biomarkers, and the corresponding tracers and radionuclides used in cancer, and more specifically NSCLC. We will focus on available clinical tracers as well as those under devel-opment, providing an overview of each TME target, and the available clinical validation. Recent advances that could improve immunoPET in the upcoming years will be discussed.

Automated summary

Immune oncology therapy has become an important option for NSCLC patients, but not all patients benefit from it. ImmunoPET has the potential to provide predictive biomarkers and insights into the tumor microenvironment, leading to improved IO and drug development strategies.