PET scans may show drug changes that MRI does not
Original title: Longitudinal PET RANO 1.0 and RANO 2.0 response assessment in vorasidenib-treated IDH-mutant gliomas: the VORAFET study.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
Doctors watched scans in people, so this is not proven care yet.
The short version
A PET scan may show that this drug is working before an MRI does.
What was studied. Doctors followed 39 adults with IDH gene change: A small change in a tumor's IDH gene. It is the first thing your team looks at when naming an adult glioma, and it can affect which treatments are offered. Your pathology report says whether your tumor has it. See the glossary gliomas who were taking the drug vorasidenib: A medicine approved in 2024 for some people with a grade 2 glioma. The glioma has to have an IDH change. The medicine acts on that change itself. It is taken after surgery. See the glossary. Everyone had PET and MRI scans at the start and every 3 months.
What they found. Using the PET scan rules, 2 patients had a complete response and 12 had a partial response. That was 60.9% of the patients who could be measured by PET. The MRI rules showed no complete or partial responses, and 5 patients had a minor response. Tumor growth showed up in 6 of 39 patients on PET and in 1 of 39 on MRI.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: PET scans may pick up changes from this drug sooner than MRI does. In time, that could help a doctor tell earlier if the drug is doing something.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean PET scans are now part of normal care. The study was small, and it only watched what the scans showed. It did not test whether these PET changes help people live longer or feel better. The authors say longer follow up is needed to know what the changes mean. This is not a cure.
Source: PubMed, October 30, 2026 · Read the original
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