{"entity":{"id":"parp-pet","kind":"technology","name":"PARP PET","aka":[],"tldr":"A PET tracer that measures how much of the DNA repair enzyme PARP a tumour has, to predict response to PARP inhibitors.","summary":"PARP PET uses radiolabelled analogues of the PARP inhibitors olaparib and rucaparib, such as 18F-FluorThanatrace (FTT, Penn) and 18F-PARPi (MSK), which bind PARP1 in the nucleus and so measure both expression of the enzyme and drug engagement at the target. The rationale is that genomic HRD tests read a permanent scar, whereas a PARP tracer reports the tumour's current state. Trials in ovarian, breast and head-and-neck cancer test whether uptake predicts benefit from PARP inhibitors beyond BRCA and HRD status, and whether a fall in uptake on treatment confirms target engagement. It offers a direct pharmacodynamic readout that complements genomic HRD, but remains at the research stage and is available at only a few academic sites. It is a scan that measures how much of the DNA repair enzyme a tumour has, to predict whether a PARP inhibitor will work.","status":"phase-2","asOf":"2026-09-04","links":[{"label":"Makvandi et al., A PET imaging agent for evaluating PARP-1 expression in ovarian cancer (Journal of Clinical Investigation 2018)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI97992"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["ovarian","tnbc"],"sections":["imaging"],"technologies":["pet"],"targets":["parp"],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-makvandi-j-clin-invest"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Radiolabelled olaparib or rucaparib analogues bind PARP1 in the nucleus.","strengths":["Direct pharmacodynamic readout","Complements genomic HRD"],"limitations":["Research stage","Limited to a few academic sites"]},"route":"/technologies/parp-pet/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"ovarian","kind":"cancer","name":"Ovarian cancer","route":"/cancers/ovarian/"},{"id":"tnbc","kind":"cancer","name":"Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)","route":"/cancers/tnbc/"}],"section":[{"id":"imaging","kind":"section","name":"Imaging","route":"/fronts/imaging/"}],"technology":[{"id":"pet","kind":"technology","name":"PET (positron emission tomography)","route":"/technologies/pet/"}],"target":[{"id":"parp","kind":"target","name":"PARP","route":"/targets/parp/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-makvandi-j-clin-invest","kind":"paper","name":"A PET imaging agent for evaluating PARP-1 expression in ovarian cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-makvandi-j-clin-invest/"}],"institution":[{"id":"penn-abramson","kind":"institution","name":"Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania","route":"/institutions/penn-abramson/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"base-excision-repair-parp","kind":"pathway","name":"Base excision repair, PARP & alkylation damage","route":"/pathways/base-excision-repair-parp/"},{"id":"ddr","kind":"pathway","name":"DNA damage response & homologous recombination","route":"/pathways/ddr/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"molecular-imaging-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Molecular imaging roadmap: FDG → PSMA → FAP → antigen and immune PET","route":"/roadmaps/molecular-imaging-roadmap/"}],"person":[{"id":"robert-mach","kind":"person","name":"Robert H. Mach","route":"/people/robert-mach/"}]}}