Abstract
Diagnostic imaging for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has the potential to alleviate elements of uncertainty associated with the current diagnostic process and to improve probability of successful outcomes from therapeutic clinical trials via earlier enrollment and treatment of participants. Ikawa et al.1 describe outcomes from an assessment of 62Cu-ATSM in patients with ALS using PET. Selective accumulation of the radiotracer in the motor cortex of patients with ALS and its correlation with disease severity supports the use of this compound to image ALS via PET. Although the study involved a limited number of participants (12 ALS and 9 healthy controls), the outcomes are nonetheless encouraging. Increasing radioactive half-life of the tracer by using 64Cu-ATSM (12 hours) instead of 62Cu-ATSM (10 minutes) together with a longer postinjection imaging interval could afford greater sensitivity and thereby better insight to whether Cu-ATSM PET may be used for diagnostic purposes.
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