# Integrated PET+DBT for optimization of breast cancer therapy

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $708,325

## Abstract

Building on our previous work, we are proposing an innovative dual-mode breast cancer scanner combining
positron emission tomography (PET) and x-ray tomosynthesis (XT).
Patient-specific evaluation of breast cancer therapy has become a compelling application of quantitative
positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. With the advent of neoadjuvant therapies, it has been shown
repeatedly over the last decade by at least 11 studies that molecular imaging with clinical PET scanners can
be used to gauge response of breast tumors to therapies within days. In this approach, a window of opportunity
between diagnosis and surgery allows early evaluation of the effectiveness of the planned adjuvant therapy
before breast cancer resection. After a baseline PET image followed by a subclinical dose of the planned
therapy, a second PET scan can be used to evaluate treatment response. If there is no response then there is
time to test second-line and other alternative therapies and to guide the selection of an effective post-surgical
adjuvant therapy.
Dedicated breast-imaging PET scanners have been proposed and evaluated since the late 1980s. Despite the
sustained level of interest, clinical breast PET imaging with whole-body (WB) PET scanners has had little
adoption, a reflection of the challenges of using breast PET imaging in the diagnostic setting.
Our approach instead is to focus on the quantitative assessment of response to breast cancer therapy, a
unique advantage of PET imaging. However, this advantage is lost when imaging small objects (< 2 cm) in
whole-body (WB) PET scanners due to limited resolution. This has created a mismatch between current
technological capability and clinical need: WB-PET is accurate down to roughly 2 cm, but lesions <2 cm in size
are the most prevalent at breast cancer diagnosis. Thus a quantitative breast imaging high-resolution PET/XT
scanner will enable patient-specific optimization of therapy in early-stage breast cancer. Our three aims are: (1)
Development and construction of the PET/XT scanner. (2) Develop and implement the necessary quantitative
data correction algorithms for the PET/XT rectangular geometry, and integrate them with accelerated image
reconstruction. (3) Perform initial imaging studies with 10 breast cancer patients immediately after their
scheduled clinical WB PET/CT imaging. Comparisons of the PET/XT and PET/CT images will be used to
design a follow-up clinical trial.
The PET/XT system will be useable immediately in local clinical trials evaluating new breast cancer therapies.
Initial patient studies will also provide essential data for designing follow-up clinical trials evaluating translation
to clinical practice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10935240
- **Project number:** 1U01EB034222-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Sergei Dolinsky
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $708,325
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10935240

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10935240, Integrated PET+DBT for optimization of breast cancer therapy (1U01EB034222-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10935240. Licensed CC0.

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