A Whole Body Dosimetry Protocol for Peptide-Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT): 2D Planar Image and Hybrid 2D+3D SPECT/CT Image Methods.

Peptide-receptor-radionuclide-therapy (PPRT) is a targeted therapy that combines a short-range energy radionuclide with a substrate with high specificity for cancer cell receptors. After injection, the radiotracer is distributed throughout the entire body, with a higher uptake in tissues where targeted receptors are overexpressed. The use of beta/gamma radionuclide emitters enables therapy imaging (beta-emission) and post-therapy imaging (gamma-emission) to be performed at the same time. Post-treatment sequential images permit absorbed dose calculation based on local uptake and wash-in/wash-out kinetics. We implemented a hybrid method that combines information derived from both 2D and 3D images. Serial whole-body images and blood samples are acquired to estimate the absorbed dose to different organs at risk and to lesions disseminated throughout the body. A single 3D-SPECT/CT image, limited to the abdominal region, overcomes projection overlap on planar images of different structures such as the intestines and kidneys. The hybrid 2D+3D-SPECT/CT method combines the effective half-life information derived from 2D planar images with the local uptake distribution derived from 3D images. We implemented this methodology to estimate the absorbed dose for patients undergoing PRRT with