Safety and accuracy of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT in children and young adults with solid tumors

⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-tyr3-Octreotide (⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC) PET/CT has been shown to have high accuracy in adults with neuroendocrine tumors, however has not been studied in pediatric patients. This study evaluated the safety and accuracy of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT in children and young adults with solid tumors that express somatostatin receptor type 2. A series of three prospective, IRB approved, clinical trials evaluating safety and efficacy of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT were conducted for subjects aged 6 months to 90 years. This study reports the results for the 26 children and young adults, aged 16 months to 29 years who participated in these trials. The administered activity of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC was 1.59 MBq/kg with an upper limit of 111 MBq for subjects < 18 years and 148 MBq for young adults. Safety was assessed with laboratory studies and patient/parent report of symptoms before and after the scan. Scans were interpreted in consensus by two board-certified nuclear medicine physicians. Each scan was categorized on a patient basis as true positive, true negative, false negative or false positive against a reference standard that included a combination of histopathology, other imaging modalities and clinical follow-up. Nine Grade I adverse events (AEs) occurred among 26 subjects, none of which were attributable to ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC. Sensitivity of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT was 88% (14 true positive, 2 false negative) and specificity was 100% (10 true negative, 0 false positive). ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT is safe and accurate in children and young adults with solid tumors expressing somatostatin receptor type 2.