Dynamic [18F]PI-2620 recording facilitates prediction of β-amyloid positivity and simultaneous staging of tau and neurodegeneration

This study evaluates whether a single dynamic [¹⁸F]PI-2620 tau-PET recording can predict β-amyloid status while simultaneously staging tau pathology and neurodegeneration. In 129 patients with tauopathies (47 amyloid-positive, 82 amyloid-negative) and 17 healthy controls, kinetic modelling of 60-minute dynamic scans yielded three complementary readouts: tracer clearance, regional tau burden and a perfusion-based marker of neurodegeneration.

Key Findings:

• Amyloid prediction from a tau scan: cortical tracer clearance was reduced in 3/4-repeat (Alzheimer’s-type) compared with 4-repeat tauopathies, discriminating β-amyloid status with an AUC of 0.99 in the primary cohort and 0.98 in validation.
• One-stop A/T/N staging: amyloid, tau and neurodegeneration information is obtained from a single imaging session.
• Clinical relevance: the approach may reduce radiation exposure, streamline diagnostic workflows and support personalised disease profiling.

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Recommended citation: Gnörich, J., Kusche-Palenga, J., Kling, A., Dehsarvi, A., Bronte, A., Frontzkowski, L., Zatcepin, A., Zaganjori, M., Schöberl, F., Roemer-Cassiano, S.N., Rauchmann, B.-S., Kurz, C., Palleis, C., Bernhardt, A.M., Jäck, A., Katzdobler, S., Scheifele, M., Bauer, T., Bischof, G.N., van Eimeren, T., Drzezga, A., Häckert, J., Perneczky, R., Rullmann, M., Buerger, K., Werner, R.A., Zwergal, A., Levin, J., Bartenstein, P., Sabri, O., Barthel, H., Stöcklein, S., Höglinger, G., Franzmeier, N., Brendel, M. (2026). Dynamic [18F]PI-2620 recording facilitates prediction of β-amyloid positivity and simultaneous staging of tau and neurodegeneration. Mol Neurodegener. doi: 10.1186/s13024-026-00997-3.