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Comparison of Group-Level and Individualized Brain Regions for Measuring Change in Longitudinal Tau Positron Emission Tomography in Alzheimer Disease

Leuzy, Antoine LU ; Binette, Alexa Pichet LU ; Vogel, Jacob W. LU ; Klein, Gregory ; Borroni, Edilio ; Tonietto, Matteo ; Strandberg, Olof LU ; Mattsson-Carlgren, Niklas LU orcid ; Palmqvist, Sebastian LU orcid and Pontecorvo, Michael J. , et al. (2023) In JAMA Neurology 80(6). p.614-623
Abstract

Importance: Longitudinal tau positron emission tomography (PET) is a relevant outcome in clinical trials evaluating disease-modifying therapies in Alzheimer disease (AD). A key unanswered question is whether the use of participant-specific (individualized) regions of interest (ROIs) is superior to conventional approaches where the same ROI (group-level) is used for each participant. Objective: To compare group- and participant-level ROIs in participants at different stages of the AD clinical continuum in terms of annual percentage change in tau-PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) and sample size requirements. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a longitudinal cohort study with consecutive participant enrollment between... (More)

Importance: Longitudinal tau positron emission tomography (PET) is a relevant outcome in clinical trials evaluating disease-modifying therapies in Alzheimer disease (AD). A key unanswered question is whether the use of participant-specific (individualized) regions of interest (ROIs) is superior to conventional approaches where the same ROI (group-level) is used for each participant. Objective: To compare group- and participant-level ROIs in participants at different stages of the AD clinical continuum in terms of annual percentage change in tau-PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) and sample size requirements. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a longitudinal cohort study with consecutive participant enrollment between September 18, 2017, and November 15, 2021. Included in the analysis were participants with mild cognitive impairment and AD dementia from the prospective and longitudinal Swedish Biomarkers For Identifying Neurodegenerative Disorders Early and Reliably 2 (BioFINDER-2) study; in addition, a validation sample (the AVID 05e, Expedition-3, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [ADNI], and BioFINDER-1 study cohorts) was also included. Exposures: Tau PET (BioFINDER-2, [18F]RO948; validation sample, [18F]flortaucipir), 7 group-level (5 data-driven stages, meta-temporal, whole brain), and 5 individualized ROIs. Main Outcomes and Measures: Annual percentage change in tau-PET SUVR across ROIs. Sample size requirements in simulated clinical trials using tau PET as an outcome were also calculated. Results: A total of 215 participants (mean [SD] age, 71.4 (7.5) years; 111 male [51.6%]) from the BioFINDER-2 study were included in this analysis: 97 amyloid-β (Aβ)-positive cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals, 77 with Aβ-positive mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 41 with AD dementia. In the validation sample were 137 Aβ-positive CU participants, 144 with Aβ-positive MCI, and 125 with AD dementia. Mean (SD) follow-up time was 1.8 (0.3) years. Using group-level ROIs, the largest annual percentage increase in tau-PET SUVR in Aβ-positive CU individuals was seen in a composite ROI combining the entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala (4.29%; 95% CI, 3.42%-5.16%). In individuals with Aβ-positive MCI, the greatest change was seen in the temporal cortical regions (5.82%; 95% CI, 4.67%-6.97%), whereas in those with AD dementia, the greatest change was seen in the parietal regions (5.22%; 95% CI, 3.95%-6.49%). Significantly higher estimates of annual percentage change were found using several of the participant-specific ROIs. Importantly, the simplest participant-specific approach, where change in tau PET was calculated in an ROI that best matched the participant's data-driven disease stage, performed best in all 3 subgroups. For the power analysis, sample size reductions for the participant-specific ROIs ranged from 15.94% (95% CI, 8.14%-23.74%) to 72.10% (95% CI, 67.10%-77.20%) compared with the best-performing group-level ROIs. Findings were replicated using [18F]flortaucipir. Conclusions and Relevance: Finding suggest that certain individualized ROIs carry an advantage over group-level ROIs for assessing longitudinal tau changes and increase the power to detect treatment effects in AD clinical trials using longitudinal tau PET as an outcome.

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Contribution to journal
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published
subject
in
JAMA Neurology
volume
80
issue
6
pages
10 pages
publisher
American Medical Association
external identifiers
  • pmid:37155176
  • scopus:85161821189
ISSN
2168-6149
DOI
10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.1067
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7fce817c-dcf0-40aa-b725-a9072b528e67
date added to LUP
2023-09-13 12:15:52
date last changed
2024-04-20 03:12:32
@article{7fce817c-dcf0-40aa-b725-a9072b528e67,
  abstract     = {{<p>Importance: Longitudinal tau positron emission tomography (PET) is a relevant outcome in clinical trials evaluating disease-modifying therapies in Alzheimer disease (AD). A key unanswered question is whether the use of participant-specific (individualized) regions of interest (ROIs) is superior to conventional approaches where the same ROI (group-level) is used for each participant. Objective: To compare group- and participant-level ROIs in participants at different stages of the AD clinical continuum in terms of annual percentage change in tau-PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) and sample size requirements. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a longitudinal cohort study with consecutive participant enrollment between September 18, 2017, and November 15, 2021. Included in the analysis were participants with mild cognitive impairment and AD dementia from the prospective and longitudinal Swedish Biomarkers For Identifying Neurodegenerative Disorders Early and Reliably 2 (BioFINDER-2) study; in addition, a validation sample (the AVID 05e, Expedition-3, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [ADNI], and BioFINDER-1 study cohorts) was also included. Exposures: Tau PET (BioFINDER-2, [<sup>18</sup>F]RO948; validation sample, [<sup>18</sup>F]flortaucipir), 7 group-level (5 data-driven stages, meta-temporal, whole brain), and 5 individualized ROIs. Main Outcomes and Measures: Annual percentage change in tau-PET SUVR across ROIs. Sample size requirements in simulated clinical trials using tau PET as an outcome were also calculated. Results: A total of 215 participants (mean [SD] age, 71.4 (7.5) years; 111 male [51.6%]) from the BioFINDER-2 study were included in this analysis: 97 amyloid-β (Aβ)-positive cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals, 77 with Aβ-positive mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 41 with AD dementia. In the validation sample were 137 Aβ-positive CU participants, 144 with Aβ-positive MCI, and 125 with AD dementia. Mean (SD) follow-up time was 1.8 (0.3) years. Using group-level ROIs, the largest annual percentage increase in tau-PET SUVR in Aβ-positive CU individuals was seen in a composite ROI combining the entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala (4.29%; 95% CI, 3.42%-5.16%). In individuals with Aβ-positive MCI, the greatest change was seen in the temporal cortical regions (5.82%; 95% CI, 4.67%-6.97%), whereas in those with AD dementia, the greatest change was seen in the parietal regions (5.22%; 95% CI, 3.95%-6.49%). Significantly higher estimates of annual percentage change were found using several of the participant-specific ROIs. Importantly, the simplest participant-specific approach, where change in tau PET was calculated in an ROI that best matched the participant's data-driven disease stage, performed best in all 3 subgroups. For the power analysis, sample size reductions for the participant-specific ROIs ranged from 15.94% (95% CI, 8.14%-23.74%) to 72.10% (95% CI, 67.10%-77.20%) compared with the best-performing group-level ROIs. Findings were replicated using [<sup>18</sup>F]flortaucipir. Conclusions and Relevance: Finding suggest that certain individualized ROIs carry an advantage over group-level ROIs for assessing longitudinal tau changes and increase the power to detect treatment effects in AD clinical trials using longitudinal tau PET as an outcome.</p>}},
  author       = {{Leuzy, Antoine and Binette, Alexa Pichet and Vogel, Jacob W. and Klein, Gregory and Borroni, Edilio and Tonietto, Matteo and Strandberg, Olof and Mattsson-Carlgren, Niklas and Palmqvist, Sebastian and Pontecorvo, Michael J. and Iaccarino, Leonardo and Stomrud, Erik and Ossenkoppele, Rik and Smith, Ruben and Hansson, Oskar}},
  issn         = {{2168-6149}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{614--623}},
  publisher    = {{American Medical Association}},
  series       = {{JAMA Neurology}},
  title        = {{Comparison of Group-Level and Individualized Brain Regions for Measuring Change in Longitudinal Tau Positron Emission Tomography in Alzheimer Disease}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.1067}},
  doi          = {{10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.1067}},
  volume       = {{80}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}