Lung Imaging of Apoptosis in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

In Vivo Imaging of Destructive Processes in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

This is a prospective interventional study examining the use of Annexin - a radioactive tracer, in assessing lung damage in healthy volunteers, healthy volunteers actively smoking, and patients with moderate and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). All study participants will undergo a CT scan, pulmonary testing, and blood test. The study procedures are done in one day. The aim of this study is to determine if Annexin can be used as a marker to detect lung injury early on and aid in the future diagnosis of COPD.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: AxV-128/Tc

Detailed Description

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death and is characterized by clinical symptoms and spirometry. Additional measures for diagnosis can be taken using imaging modalities such as CT. However, the evaluation of lung destruction in COPD is limited by the inability to visualize the activation of pathological processes since imaging modalities are only able to evaluate end-organ damage.

In the current study, the investigators aim to assess a molecular imaging probe targeting apoptosis, a cellular process known to be pathogenic in COPD. Apoptosis, a process of programmed cellular death, correlates with COPD severity and is not seen in the normal adult lung. In the past several years the investigators have demonstrated the successful ability of AxV-128/Tc to detect apoptosis in vivo in a preclinical animal model of smoke exposure emphysema model. Additionally, Phase 1 studies have demonstrated safety of this agent in healthy patients. Therefore, the investigators will bring 99mTc-Annexin V-128 (AxV-128/Tc) forward as a probe to image the apoptotic disease process of the lung in patients with COPD. The investigators will determine if the imaging signal correlates with serum biomarkers of apoptosis and inflammation. It is the investigators' hypothesis that AxV-128/99mTc imaging will show increased uptake in the lungs of patients with COPD, and that this signal intensity will correlate with accepted markers of apoptosis and inflammation. If successful, such an approach will be a powerful tool to potentially predict disease progression after diagnosis, identify patients at risk for disease exacerbation related lung function decline, and monitor response to disease targeted therapy.

The total effective dose from the combined single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and computerized tomography (CT) scans is 6.2 millisievert (mSv). This effective dose is below what a patient receives during a standard 2 dose rest and stress cardiac nuclear imaging study and well within the range of current clinical nuclear imaging tests. The exact long term risk for development of cancer from diagnostic radiological procedures is currently under debate but all imaging procedures in this study are aimed to keep total radiation burden As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 34
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with moderate COPD: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Stage II, forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) < 0.7 and FEV1 50-79% predicted
• Patients with severe COPD: GOLD Stage III-IV, FEV1/FVC < 0.7 and FEV1 < 50% predicted
• Healthy controls who are currently smoking (> 10 pack years) with normal spirometry (FEV1 > 80% and FEV1/FVC > 70%)
• Healthy controls who never smoked (less than 100 lifetime cigarettes) with normal spirometry (FEV1 > 80% and FEV1/FVC > 70%)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age < 18 years

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: All Participants; All study participants will be administered Annexin (study drug also known as 99mTc-Annexin V-128 (AxV-128/Tc)) intravenously (IV) followed by SPECT-CT imaging scan.	Drug: AxV-128/Tc; Study drug 99mTc-Annexin V-128 (AxV-128/Tc) is administered intravenously prior to SPECT/CT imaging.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mean AxV-128/Tc Uptake	Mean ± standard deviation (SD) for values for uptake of AxV-128/Tc for individual lobes and for lungs will be determined for each COPD group and compared using unpaired t-test for values with Gaussian distribution and Mann Whitney (Wilcoxon rank) test for continuous variables without normal distribution.	At first visit (Day 1) and if available, at up to 18 months from the initial scan

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Columbia University
• Collaborators: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gebhard Wagener, MD, Columbia University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 15, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 8, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): October 8, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 28, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 28, 2016
• First Posted (Estimated): November 30, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): October 9, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 22, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Phase 2; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Lung Diseases, Obstructive; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
• Other Study ID Numbers: AAAR0417; 1R01HL131960-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No