First-in-Human Brain Imaging of [18F]TRACK, a PET tracer for Tropomyosin Receptor Kinases

The tropomyosin receptor kinase TrkA/B/C family is responsible for human neuronal growth, survival, and differentiation from early nervous system development stages onward. Downregulation of TrkA/B/C receptors characterizes numerous neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Abnormally expressed Trk receptors or chimeric Trk fusion proteins are also well-characterized oncogenic drivers in a variety of neurogenic and non-neurogenic human neoplasms and are currently the focus of intensive clinical research. Previously, we have described the clinical translation of a highly selective and potent carbon-11-labeled pan-Trk radioligand and the preclinical characterization of the optimized fluorine-18-labeled analogue, [18F]TRACK, for in vivo Trk positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. We describe herein central nervous system selectivity assessment and first-in-human study of [18F]TRACK.