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66/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 66 out of 100. Genetics

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Objective To evaluate the effects of bapineuzumab on brain β-amyloid (Aβ) burden using (11)C-Pittsburgh compound B ((11)C-PiB)-PET. Methods Two phase 3 clinical trials, 1 each in apolipoprotein APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers, were conducted in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease dementia. Bapineuzumab, an anti-Aβ monoclonal antibody, or placebo, was administered by IV infusion every 13 weeks for 78 weeks. PET substudies assessed change in brain fibrillar Aβ over 71 weeks using an (11)C-PiB-PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVr) global cortical average (GCA) comprising the average SUVr from 5 cortical regions of interest with cerebellar gray matter as the reference region. Results A total of 115 carriers and 39 noncarriers were analyzed. The difference (δ) in mean baseline to 71 week change in (11)C-PiB-PET GCA between bapineuzumab and placebo was significant in carriers (0.5 mg/kg vs placebo δ = -0.101; p = 0.004) and in pooled analyses of both carriers and noncarriers (0.5 mg/kg vs placebo δ = -0.068; p = 0.027; 1.0 mg/kg vs placebo δ = -0.133; p = 0.028) but not in the noncarrier trial separately. Analyses by individual region of interest and in mild disease yielded findings similar to the main trial results. Conclusions The (11)C-PiB-PET imaging results demonstrated reduction of fibrillar Aβ accumulation in patients with Alzheimer disease treated with bapineuzumab; however, as no clinical benefit was observed, the findings are consistent with the hypotheses that bapineuzumab may not have been initiated early enough in the disease course, the doses were insufficient, or the most critical Aβ species were inadequately targeted.

Key findings

Results A total of 115 carriers and 39 noncarriers were analyzed.
The difference (δ) in mean baseline to 71 week change in (11)C-PiB-PET GCA between bapineuzumab and placebo was significant in carriers (0.5 mg/kg vs placebo δ = -0.101; p = 0.004) and in pooled analyses of both carriers and noncarriers (0.5 mg/kg vs placebo δ = -0.068; p = 0.027; 1.0 mg/kg vs placebo δ = -0.133; p = 0.028) but not in the noncarrier trial separately.
Analyses by individual region of interest and in mild disease yielded findings similar to the main trial results.
Conclusions The (11)C-PiB-PET imaging results demonstrated reduction of fibrillar Aβ accumulation in patients with Alzheimer disease treated with bapineuzumab; however, as no clinical benefit was observed, the findings are consistent with the hypotheses that bapineuzumab may not have been initiated early enough in the disease course, the doses were insufficient, or the most critical Aβ species were inadequately targeted.

Why it matters

In two phase 3 trials, bapineuzumab reduced fibrillar amyloid-beta accumulation on PET imaging in APOE ε4 carriers and in pooled analyses, but not in the noncarrier trial separately. This imaging result concerns amyloid burden and does not by itself show that bapineuzumab treats, cures, or prevents Alzheimer's disease.

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Study details

Study designclinical trial
Participants115
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 66/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a large phase 3 trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	11 / 12	A large phase 3 trial (from PubMed type “Clinical Trial, Phase III”)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	115 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomised / blinded	1 / 2	Randomised (as stated in the record)
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 151 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	11.6 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 14.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 16 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 18 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	1 / 4	Last-listed author James D. Seward: h-index 7 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	University of Michigan: institution h-index 2,240 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 9 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26208959)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	66 / 100	—

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Read the original

Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).

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Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Liu, E., Schmidt, M. E., Margolin, R., Sperling, R., Koeppe, R., Mason, N. S., et al. (2015). Amyloid-β 11C-PiB-PET imaging results from 2 randomized bapineuzumab phase 3 AD trials. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000001877

Vancouver

Liu E, Schmidt ME, Margolin R, Sperling R, Koeppe R, Mason NS, et al. Amyloid-β 11C-PiB-PET imaging results from 2 randomized bapineuzumab phase 3 AD trials. Neurology. 2015. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000001877. PMID: 26208959.

BibTeX

@article{liu2015-26208959,
  author  = {Liu, E. and Schmidt, M. E. and Margolin, R. and Sperling, R. and Koeppe, R. and Mason, N. S. and Klunk, W. E. and Mathis, C. A. and others},
  title   = {{Amyloid-β 11C-PiB-PET imaging results from 2 randomized bapineuzumab phase 3 AD trials}},
  journal = {Neurology},
  year    = {2015},
  doi     = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000001877},
  pmid    = {26208959},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000001877}
}

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