Cadherin 3(CDH3)-Targeted PET in Lung Malignant Tumors

March 27, 2026 updated by: Chen KeZhong, Peking University People's Hospital

A Single-arm, Open-label, Single-center Clinical Study to Evaluate CDH3-targeted Positron Emission Tomography (PET) for Lung Malignant Tumors

Lung malignant tumors are a significant health threat with high incidence and mortality rates, and molecular imaging is crucial for early diagnosis, staging, prognosis evaluation, and therapeutic efficacy assessment. 18F-FDG PET imaging is widely used, but has limitations. CDH3 is a promising target for tumor-targeted imaging, as it is only expressed in cancerous epithelial cells. A new PET probe, 68Ga-TOI-1, targeting CDH3 has been developed with better affinity and selectivity than previous probes. Preclinical data support its safety and metabolic stability, and future research will explore its diagnostic and staging value in different types of lung tumors, providing a new and precise evaluation method for lung malignant tumors.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Cancer is a leading cause of high mortality rates worldwide and a significant barrier to increasing life expectancy. Among various cancer types, lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors globally. According to global cancer statistics, as of 2020, the global incidence rate of lung cancer was 11.4%, and the mortality rate was 18%. Lung cancer is a major cause of cancer-related deaths in China and worldwide, particularly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and its treatment strategies are continuously evolving. Immunotherapy and targeted neoadjuvant therapy can help eliminate micrometastases to reduce postoperative recurrence, lower tumor staging to improve the resectability of primary lesions, and enhance the long-term survival rate of lung cancer patients to some extent. However, for patients with resectable lung cancer, surgery remains the primary curative approach.

Given the significant individual variability in lung cancer treatment outcomes, the suboptimal efficacy of traditional PET in monitoring treatment response, and the lack of effective methods for distinguishing benign from malignant pulmonary nodules, there is a critical clinical need for innovative approaches. Leveraging key molecular imaging markers for preoperative assessment of treatment efficacy and assisting in the differentiation of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules is a crucial scientific direction for our research team.

In recent years, molecular imaging has been increasingly applied in cancer diagnosis and treatment, with PET molecular imaging emerging as a key tool for lung cancer management. By utilizing targeting moieties of molecular probes to precisely bind to tumor biomarkers, coupled with radiation emitted from radionuclides during decay, it is possible to achieve accurate lesion detection and non-invasive monitoring. This approach holds promise for overcoming longstanding challenges in conventional PET imaging for comprehensive lung cancer treatment, such as high false-positive rates.

High-dimensional multi-omics technologies integrate data from genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and other levels. By employing transcriptomics and proteomics, overexpressed proteins in lung cancer tissues can be identified at the tissue level, while spatial transcriptomics and single-cell transcriptomics can validate the cellular localization of target proteins. Multi-omics approaches enable systematic exploration of key molecular targets in lung cancer, providing a reliable pathway for precision target discovery. Utilizing a previously established large-scale Chinese multi-omics lung cancer cohort, combined with bioinformatics analysis and in vitro and in vivo molecular biology validation, the investigators identified CDH3 as a surface biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer.

Cadherin-3 (CDH3) is a glycoprotein whose abnormal high expression in non-small cell lung cancer is closely associated with poor prognosis, enhanced tumor proliferation and migration, and the formation of an immunosuppressive microenvironment. CDH3 has emerged as a promising novel therapeutic target for lung cancer. Currently, drug development targeting CDH3 primarily focuses on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). In a study involving five patients with advanced NSCLC harboring EGFR mutations, these drugs achieved an objective response rate as high as 80%. Through multi-omics imaging target screening, CDH3 was identified as a potential imaging target due to its specific high expression on the surface of lung cancer cells.

Supported by a key project from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, our team has previously developed a CDH3-targeted molecular probe, TOI-1, with independent intellectual property rights and has applied for a patent (published under publication number CN121426959A). This probe has demonstrated excellent sensitivity and specificity in preclinical animal models. the investigators are now collaborating with the Department of Nuclear Medicine at our hospital to conduct an exploratory clinical study on the 68Ga-TOI-1 PET molecular probe. 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT imaging is expected to help determine the benign or malignant nature of tumors and their extent of involvement, enable tumor localization and qualitative diagnosis, facilitate early diagnosis and restaging of recurrent tumors, and provide scientific evidence for disease staging, disease activity assessment, treatment planning, and prognosis evaluation.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

80

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • China
    • Beijing Municipality
      • Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China, 100044
        • Recruiting
        • Peking University People's Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

This single-center, prospective, single-arm study plans to enroll 30 patients with lung cancer receiving neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and 50 patients with pulmonary nodules highly suspected of malignancy based on clinical diagnostic criteria who are scheduled to undergo wedge resection or anatomic lobectomy/sublobar resection.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age ≥ 18 years, male or female, with an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1;
  2. Availability of complete clinical and imaging data;
  3. Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks;
  4. Hematology, liver and kidney function meeting the following criteria: Hematology: WBC ≥ 4.0 × 10⁹/L or neutrophils ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L, PLT ≥ 100 × 10⁹/L, Hb ≥ 90 g/L; PT or APTT ≤ 1.5 × ULN; Liver and kidney function: T-Bil ≤ 1.5 × ULN, ALT/AST ≤ 2.5 × ULN, ALP ≤ 2.5 × ULN; BUN ≤ 1.5 × ULN, SCr ≤ 1.5 × ULN;
  5. Patients who have not received radiotherapy or chemotherapy and are eligible for surgical resection or biopsy to obtain a pathological diagnosis, or those highly suspected of having malignant pulmonary nodules according to clinical diagnostic criteria;
  6. Pathologically confirmed lung cancer via biopsy before neoadjuvant therapy; life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks;
  7. Ability to provide adequate tumor tissue for testing and research.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Women who are planning pregnancy, pregnant, or breastfeeding;
  2. History of other malignant tumors or prior receipt of other anti-tumor therapies;
  3. Poor or missing PET scan image quality of the probe that fails to meet analysis standards;
  4. Presence of claustrophobia or other mental illnesses;
  5. Any other conditions deemed by the investigators as inappropriate for participation in this study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
CDH3-targeted PET in lung malignant tumors
Participant who conforms to the inclusion criteria will undergo 18F-FDG and 68Ga-CDH3 PET/CT scans within 1 week.
Diagnostic test: PET/CT scans
PET Dynamic Data: The tracer is administered based on the patient's body weight at approximately 0.06-0.12 mCi/kg. PET scanning is initiated simultaneously with tracer injection, followed by a flush with 10 ml of normal saline. The image acquisition matrix is 192 × 192. Reconstruction is performed using the OSEM algorithm with 4 iterations and 20 subsets, incorporating time-of-flight attenuation correction, scatter correction, and random correction. The total duration of PET dynamic data acquisition is 60 minutes. Processing of PET dynamic scan data: Dynamic PET images are divided into 2-minute intervals to obtain time-activity curves by extracting the radioactivity within regions of interest at different time points, reflecting tracer uptake and enabling calculation of the time to peak. Multi-modality imaging data are analyzed by radiologists with over 10 years of experience in diagnosing respiratory diseases.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT in the staging of lung malignant tumors.
Time Frame: up to 6 weeks
The diagnostic performance of 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT for initial staging will be evaluated and compared using histopathological findings or typical imaging features as reference standard.
up to 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Maximum Standardized Uptake Value [SUVmax] of Primary and Metastatic Lesions on 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT vs. 18F-FDG PET/CT
Time Frame: up to 6 weeks
Comparison of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of primary and metastatic lesions between 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT.
up to 6 weeks
Mean Standardized Uptake Value [SUVmean] of Primary and Metastatic Lesions on 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT vs. 18F-FDG PET/CT
Time Frame: up to 6 weeks
Comparison of mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) of primary and metastatic lesions between 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT.
up to 6 weeks
Correlation between 68Ga-TOI-1 SUVmax and CDH3 H-score in Tumor Tissue
Time Frame: up to 6 weeks
Evaluation of the correlation between maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) derived from 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT and CDH3 expression level measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) as H-score (combining staining intensity and percentage of positive cells) in tumor tissue samples.
up to 6 weeks
Correlation between 68Ga-TOI-1 SUVmean and CDH3 H-score in Tumor Tissue
Time Frame: up to 6 weeks
Evaluation of the correlation between mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) derived from 68Ga-TOI-1 PET/CT and CDH3 expression level measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) as H-score (combining staining intensity and percentage of positive cells) in tumor tissue samples.
up to 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Peking University People's Hospital

Investigators

  • Study Director: Kezhong Chen, MD, Peking University People's Hospital
  • Study Chair: Jun Wang, M.M., Peking University People's Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Xing Yang, MD, Peking University People's Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Yuan Li, MD, Peking University People's Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Hao Li, MD, Peking University People's Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Ziqian Bai, MD, Peking University People's Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 18, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 18, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 23, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 92259303

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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