Fabrizio Stocchi, MD, PhD, IRCCS San Raffaele Rome, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, discusses the need for biomarkers in Parkinson’s disease. There are currently no good biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease and therefore, there is great hope for a new PET tracer for α-synuclein, as well as for other methods such as α-synuclein skin biopsy. Detection of α-synuclein inclusions is thus far only possible through histological analysis of postmortem tissue. Therefore, the possibility of detecting α-synuclein in a minimally invasive manner would provide valuable insights into disease pathology. Positive clinical proof-of-concept data was presented at AD/PD 2022, showing for the first time that a PET tracer can reliably detect α-synuclein aggregates in patients’ brains. In addition to a biomarker which is reflective of disease, additional biomarkers which indicate disease progression is also a frontier worthy of research. This interview took place at the AD/PD™ 2022 Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
