Amyloid-β (Aβ) measured by PET is usually assessed in a binary manner, with test outcomes either being positive or negative, explains Alexis Moscoso, PhD, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. This approach does not accommodate for the differing severity of Aβ deposition seen in Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, to investigate the association of Aβ pathology severity with tau accumulation, a recently established Aβ PET-based staging approach was used to stratify participants into four progressive groups. The results showed that 18F-Flortaucipir-PET (FTP) uptake increased through the progressive Aβ stages, but more severe and widespread tau pathology only occurred in stages 3 and 4. These findings suggest that recruitment based on a more detailed assessment of Aβ stage may be more beneficial than conventionally defined Aβ-positivity in clinical trials in which longitudinal tau PET is used as an outcome measure, since tau accumulation was varied across the stages. This interview took place during the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2021.
