{"entity":{"id":"sstr-pet","kind":"technology","name":"Somatostatin receptor PET (68Ga/64Cu-DOTATATE)","aka":[],"tldr":"A PET scan using a radioactive hormone mimic that lights up neuroendocrine tumours and shows whether the matching radioactive treatment will work.","summary":"68Ga-DOTATATE (Netspot, 2016), 68Ga-DOTATOC (2019) and 64Cu-DOTATATE (Detectnet, 2020) replaced 111In-octreotide scintigraphy, with far higher sensitivity for small lesions and bone disease. Mandatory for staging, for selecting patients for PRRT (Krenning score ≥3 or uptake above liver), and for detecting occult primaries. FDG PET complements it in high-grade or dedifferentiated disease ('flip-flop' pattern).","status":"standard-of-care","asOf":"2026-09-07","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOTA-TATE","links":[{"label":"Wikipedia","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOTA-TATE"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["neuroendocrine","sclc"],"sections":["imaging","radiopharma"],"technologies":["pet","pet-ct"],"targets":["sstr2"],"drugs":["lutathera"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["theranostics"],"trials":["nct03673943","nct05709171"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":["pet-ct","radionuclide-generators-kits"],"notes":[],"principle":"Radiolabelled somatostatin analogue binds SSTR2 on tumour cells; positron emission imaged by PET/CT.","strengths":["Whole-body receptor map","Theranostic gatekeeper for 177Lu-DOTATATE","Changes management in ~40% of patients versus conventional imaging"],"limitations":["Physiologic uptake in pancreas uncinate, spleen, pituitary","Poor sensitivity in SSTR-negative high-grade disease","68Ga generator supply and short half-life"],"since":2016},"route":"/technologies/sstr-pet/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"esthesioneuroblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Esthesioneuroblastoma (olfactory neuroblastoma)","route":"/cancers/esthesioneuroblastoma/"},{"id":"extrapulmonary-nec","kind":"cancer","name":"Extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma","route":"/cancers/extrapulmonary-nec/"},{"id":"grade-3-net","kind":"cancer","name":"Grade 3 well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumour","route":"/cancers/grade-3-net/"},{"id":"hereditary-ppgl","kind":"cancer","name":"Hereditary pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (SDHx, VHL, RET, NF1, MAX and TMEM127)","route":"/cancers/hereditary-ppgl/"},{"id":"lung-net","kind":"cancer","name":"Lung neuroendocrine tumours (typical and atypical carcinoid)","route":"/cancers/lung-net/"},{"id":"metastatic-ppgl","kind":"cancer","name":"Metastatic pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma","route":"/cancers/metastatic-ppgl/"},{"id":"multiple-endocrine-neoplasia","kind":"cancer","name":"Multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes (MEN1, MEN2, MEN4)","route":"/cancers/multiple-endocrine-neoplasia/"},{"id":"neuroendocrine","kind":"cancer","name":"Neuroendocrine tumours","route":"/cancers/neuroendocrine/"},{"id":"pancreatic-net","kind":"cancer","name":"Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours","route":"/cancers/pancreatic-net/"},{"id":"pheochromocytoma-paraganglioma","kind":"cancer","name":"Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL)","route":"/cancers/pheochromocytoma-paraganglioma/"},{"id":"small-intestinal-net","kind":"cancer","name":"Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumours","route":"/cancers/small-intestinal-net/"},{"id":"sclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/sclc/"}],"section":[{"id":"imaging","kind":"section","name":"Imaging","route":"/fronts/imaging/"},{"id":"radiopharma","kind":"section","name":"Radiopharmaceuticals & Theranostics","route":"/fronts/radiopharma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"prrt","kind":"technology","name":"Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT)","route":"/technologies/prrt/"},{"id":"pet","kind":"technology","name":"PET (positron emission tomography)","route":"/technologies/pet/"},{"id":"pet-ct","kind":"technology","name":"PET/CT","route":"/technologies/pet-ct/"},{"id":"radionuclide-generators-kits","kind":"technology","name":"Radionuclide generators and cold kits","route":"/technologies/radionuclide-generators-kits/"}],"target":[{"id":"sstr2","kind":"target","name":"Somatostatin receptor 2","route":"/targets/sstr2/"}],"drug":[{"id":"ga68-dotatate","kind":"drug","name":"Gallium-68 DOTATATE (and Cu-64 DOTATATE)","route":"/drugs/ga68-dotatate/"},{"id":"lutathera","kind":"drug","name":"Lutetium-177 dotatate","route":"/drugs/lutathera/"}],"term":[{"id":"theranostics","kind":"term","name":"Theranostics","route":"/terms/theranostics/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct05709171","kind":"trial","name":"Dual 64Cu-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT Imaging of Patients With Neuroendocrine Neoplasms","route":"/trials/nct05709171/"},{"id":"nct03673943","kind":"trial","name":"Imaging of Patients With Known or Suspected Somatostatin Receptor Positive Neuroendocrine Tumors Using Cu64-DOTATATE","route":"/trials/nct03673943/"}],"pairing":[{"id":"sstr-pet-to-prrt","kind":"pairing","name":"SSTR PET → PRRT","route":"/pairings/sstr-pet-to-prrt/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-bio2-localise-the-mrd","kind":"idea","name":"When the blood test is positive, hunt for the lesion with sensitive imaging","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-localise-the-mrd/"}],"company":[{"id":"advanced-accelerator-applications","kind":"company","name":"Advanced Accelerator Applications (Novartis)","route":"/companies/advanced-accelerator-applications/"}]}}