The role of PET molecular imaging in immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in lung cancer: Precision medicine and visual monitoring

Abstract

Lung cancer is a malignant tumour originating from the bronchial epithelium or glands of the lung with high morbidity and mortality. For advanced lung cancer, the lack of effective treatment often results in poor prognosis. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy, as a novel therapeutic method, upregulates immunity by blocking the negative regulation of tumours. In the clinical treatment process, not all lung cancer patients can benefit from ICI treatment. Therefore, screening patients who might potentially benefit from ICI therapy and evaluating the efficacy of ICIs has become an important part of therapy for lung cancer patients. This review has summarized the immune microenvironment of lung cancer, the mechanism of ICI therapy and its current application status. Importantly, we focused on the application of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and other targeted immune checkpoint tracers based on positron emission tomography (PET) for lung cancer, providing a reference for screening lung cancer candidates suitable for ICI therapy and evaluating the therapeutic effect. Finally, future research directions in PET molecular imaging and their potential application in ICI therapy for lung cancer are presented.