18F ML-10 for Early Detection of Response of Brain Metastases to SRS

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of \[18F\]-ML-10 to serve as a non-invasive imaging tool for the early detection of apoptosis in brain metastases in response to radiation therapy, in patients subjected to stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Such early detection may improve clinical management of patients with brain metastases, as it may help early identification of non-responders, and subsequently potentially lead to optimization of radiation techniques such as the need for whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT), addition of brain penetrating chemotherapy or an early decision on referral of the patient with non-responsive lesions to surgery or to systemic chemotherapy. The experimental design of the present study aims to evaluate the potential of non-invasive PET examination with \[18F\]-ML-10, to provide the clinician with an assessment of response early in the course of treatment, via non-invasive molecular imaging of radiation-induced apoptosis. This information on tumor responsiveness is currently available only several weeks to months after completion of radiotherapy.