What happened
- Twenty-four researchers, with Stürzl, Kirchleitner, Lorenz and Schmidbauer among the authors, published on 6 November 2026 in Nature Communications a study comparing two imaging techniques for visualizing glioblastoma.
- They used a histopathology-validated cohort: 472 tissue samples from 61 patients with IDH-wildtype glioblastoma.
- Positron emission tomography with [18F]FET, a labelled amino acid, depicted tumour tissue significantly better than contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, especially in regions that show no enhancement.
- Visualizing the tumour well is essential for guiding biopsy, resection and radiotherapy.
Why it matters
- Contrast MRI is routine, but it can miss metabolically active tumour outside areas of blood-brain barrier disruption.
- A tumour that does not show on the image is a tumour that can be left untreated in surgery or radiotherapy.
- The authors indicate that incorporating amino acid PET into routine planning could improve the accuracy of visualization and, ultimately, patient management.
The number
91.2% versus 52.6%. That is the sensitivity of FET PET and of contrast MRI for detecting tumour tissue. In tissue that shows no enhancement, PET’s positive predictive value stays at 98.3%.
Context
The results were consistent in newly diagnosed and recurrent disease, and in both cohorts, those undergoing resection and those undergoing biopsy. That consistency is what gives weight to the comparison.
The study concludes that FET PET complements MRI by revealing tumour burden MRI cannot see, not that it replaces it. A limitation the abstract does not discuss is access: amino acid PET requires equipment and tracers that are not available at every centre.
Nor does the abstract report whether using PET improves survival. Seeing more tumour is a condition for treating it better, but it does not by itself prove a clinical benefit, which would require another kind of study.
At Mamífero we follow cancer diagnosis and treatment. We reported that an antibody that activates two groups of T cells achieves responses and that more cell-free DNA in blood improves early cancer detection. Also that Roche is testing RO3903, a KRAS G12C inhibitor that sidesteps resistance and that modified transfer RNAs repair the p53 gene and reduce tumours.
What’s next
- Incorporating amino acid PET into routine planning is what the authors propose.
- Later studies will have to measure whether seeing more tumour translates into better survival.
- The availability of the tracer and the equipment will condition who can use it.
Bottom line
What MRI does not see, PET marks with an amino acid. Knowing where the tumour is comes first, and this study shows that until now only half was being seen.
Sources
- Stürzl, Kirchleitner, Lorenz, Schmidbauer et al., “[18F]FET PET enables histopathology-validated detection of non-contrast-enhancing glioblastoma”, Nature Communications, 6 November 2026, DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-78980-1. This note is based on the paper’s abstract.
- Cover image: Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Edited by Rodrigo Cornejo. How we select and verify: who writes these notes.
