# Advanced Imaging for Pulmonary Fibrosis

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2024 · $604,115

## Abstract

While it is well known that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has a devastating disease course, approximately
30% of individuals with non-IPF interstitial lung disease (ILD) will develop progressive pulmonary fibrosis
(PPF), with an overall poor survival worse than most cancers. A diagnosis of PPF carries significant therapeutic
implications. Based on the results of the INBUILD trial, patients with non-IPF ILD who experience disease
progression benefit from antifibrotic therapy with nintedanib. A major clinical challenge is that a diagnosis of
PPF can only be made after evidence of disease progression via worsening respiratory symptoms, decline in
pulmonary function, or progressive changes on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Early
identification of patients at the highest risk for developing PPF is a crucial unmet need to improve outcomes of
those with non-IPF ILD. The capacity to predict the development of PPF with high accuracy would allow (1)
early initiation of anti-fibrotic therapy for those at highest risk of PPF, (2) improved prognostication to enable
care plans to be tailored accordingly (i.e. early referral for lung transplantation), and (3) enrichment of clinical
trials with subjects at the highest risk for PPF. We have developed two innovative and complementary
advanced imaging technologies that we will employ simultaneously to determine if our imaging measurements
can predict which individuals will develop PPF. We have developed a PET probe that binds type I collagen with
high specificity. This probe, 68Ga-CBP8, can stage the degree of new collagen formation in a mouse model of
pulmonary fibrosis, measure response to therapy with an αvβ6 inhibitor in a murine model, and detect
increased collagen in the lungs of IPF subjects. We have data that 68Ga-CBP8 preferentially binds recently
deposited collagen as opposed to established scar and that higher 68Ga-CBP8 lung uptake is followed by
disease progression in subjects with ILD. We have employed dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance
imaging (DCE-MRI) to obtain complementary measurements of tissue injury (e.g., microvascular changes and
changes in the extravascular extracellular space) in subjects with ILD. In IPF subjects, we have shown that
DCE-MRI can distinguish subsequent stable versus progressive disease. We will build on these findings by
performing a longitudinal observational study in subjects with non-IPF ILD to determine if our PET-MRI
measurements predict PPF as determined by subsequent changes in pulmonary function tests and quantitative
measurements on HRCT. We will determine if the combination of PET and DCE-MRI measurements improves
the diagnostic accuracy of either measurement alone. We will also use these technologies to understand the
effect of immunosuppression treatment on collagen deposition. If successful, these studies will provide a non-
invasive tool for single timepoint disease activity assessment that could enable early initiation of antifibro...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10979870
- **Project number:** 1R01HL171240-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Sydney Montesi
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $604,115
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10979870

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10979870, Advanced Imaging for Pulmonary Fibrosis (1R01HL171240-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10979870. Licensed CC0.

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