FAPI PET in Systemic Sclerosis Interstitial Lung Disease

November 3, 2026 updated by: Elizabeth Volkmann, MD, MS, University of California, Los Angeles

PHASE II OPEN-LABEL EFFICACY AND SAFETY STUDY OF FIBROBLAST ACTIVATION PROTEIN α (FAP)-DIRECTED RADIOTRACER 68Ga-FAPI-46 AS A POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET) FUNCTIONAL RESPONSE BIOMARKER FOR SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS-ASSOCIATED INTERSTITIAL LUNG DISEASE (SSC-ILD)

This is a phase II open-label efficacy and safety study to evaluate standard of care treatment response measured by PET imaging radiotracer 68Ga-FAPI-46 in 120 subjects with SSc-ILD.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

120

Phase

  • Phase 2

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 Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
        • UCLA Division of Rheumatology

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Ability to provide written informed consent.
  • Male or female > 18 years of age at the screening visit.
  • Meets the 2013 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/EULAR Classification Criteria for SSc.
  • ILD confirmed by thoracic high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) at the baseline visit.
  • Initiated or will initiate a new ILD therapy within the last 3 months +/- 1 week prior to the screening visit.
  • If enrolled in the FAPI/PET group, women of child-bearing potential must have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test. If the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnant test will be required.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant, breastfeeding, or unwilling to practice birth control during participation in the study.
  • Unsuitable candidate for the study, based on the opinion of the Investigator (e.g., cognitive impairment), such that participation might create undue risk to the subject or interfere with the subject's ability to comply with the protocol requirements or complete the study.
  • Active infectious lung disease.
  • Current malignancy other than squamous or basal cell carcinoma.
  • Current lung disease other than ILD (e.g., emphysema).
  • Subjects must not have participated in another clinical trial with an investigational product within 90 days prior to enrollment and agree to abstain from such trials during the study.
  • Prior allergic reaction to radiotracer 68Ga-FAPI-46.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Receive PET Scan
Drug: FAPI tracer

68Ga-FAPI-46 will be used for the PET/CT for SSc ILD patients
No Intervention: Blood Draw Only

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Prediction progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) by evaluation of the change in uptake of radiotracer 68Ga-FAPI-46
Time Frame: 1 year

This endpoint will evaluate whether the change in uptake of radiotracer 68Ga-FAPI-46 from baseline to 6 months of treatment predicts progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) at 1 year according to American Thoracic Society guidelines.
1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Prediction progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) by evaluation of the change in the levels of specific blood-based biomarkers
Time Frame: 1 year

This endpoint will evaluate whether the change in circulating biomarkers levels at 6 months predicts PPF at 1 year using the same definition above.
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Volkmann, MD, MS, University of California, Los Angeles

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 (Estimated)

November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

November 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 2026

Last Verified

October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 25-1723
  • 1R01HL174555-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • 5R01HL174555-02 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

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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