[(89)Zr]Zr-DFO-girentuximab and [(18)F]FDG PET/CT to Predict Watchful Waiting Duration in Patients with Metastatic Clear-cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

PURPOSE: Watchful waiting (WW) can be considered for patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (mccRCC) with good or intermediate prognosis, especially those with <2 International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium criteria and ≤2 metastatic sites [referred to as watch and wait (“W&W”) criteria]. The IMaging PAtients for Cancer drug SelecTion-Renal Cell Carcinoma study objective was to assess the predictive value of [(18)F]FDG PET/CT and [(89)Zr]Zr-DFO-girentuximab PET/CT for WW duration in patients with mccRCC. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Between February 2015 and March 2018, 48 patients were enrolled, including 40 evaluable patients with good (n = 14) and intermediate (n = 26) prognosis. Baseline contrast-enhanced CT, [(18)F]FDG and [(89)Zr]Zr-DFO-girentuximab PET/CT were performed. Primary endpoint was the time to disease progression warranting systemic treatment. Maximum standardized uptake values (SUV(max)) were measured using lesions on CT images coregistered to PET/CT. High and low uptake groups were defined on the basis of median geometric mean SUV(max) of RECIST-measurable lesions across patients. RESULTS: The median WW time was 16.1 months [95% confidence interval (CI): 9.0–31.7]. The median WW period was shorter in patients with high [(18)F]FDG tumor uptake than those with low uptake (9.0 vs. 36.2 months; HR, 5.6; 95% CI: 2.4–14.7; P < 0.001). Patients with high [(89)Zr]Zr-DFO-girentuximab tumor uptake had a median WW period of 9.3 versus 21.3 months with low uptake (HR, 1.7; 95% CI: 0.9–3.3; P = 0.13). Patients with “W&W criteria” had a longer median WW period of 21.3 compared with patients without: 9.3 months (HR, 1.9; 95% CI: 0.9–3.9; P(one-sided) = 0.034). Adding [(18)F]FDG uptake to the “W&W criteria” improved the prediction of WW duration (P < 0.001); whereas [(89)Zr]Zr-DFO-girentuximab did not (P = 0.53). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with good- or intermediate-risk mccRCC, low [(18)F]FDG uptake is associated with prolonged WW. This study shows the predictive value of the “W&W criteria” for WW duration and shows the potential of [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT to further improve this.