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Plasma P-tau217 for detecting amyloid clearance after donanemab in Alzheimer's disease
Collins EC, Lu M, Beck R, Hendrix J, Hodsdon ME, Hansson O. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2026-08-07
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Introduction This analysis of the phase 3 TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 trial examined whether plasma tau protein phosphorylated at threonine 217 (p-tau217) level can reliably monitor treatment-related amyloid clearance (TRAC) after donanemab treatment in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods Amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and plasma p-tau217 levels were assessed at baseline and longitudinally during study treatment. The diagnostic performance of p-tau217 in detecting post-treatment TRAC ( Results Plasma p-tau217 showed suboptimal performance in detecting TRAC by PET in donanemab-treated participants (N = 830), with an area under the ROC curve of 0.61 at 52 weeks. Discussion Despite reductions in plasma p-tau217 with donanemab treatment, this biomarker cannot currently be used to accurately detect TRAC by PET (< 24.1 CL) in individuals with early symptomatic AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Collins, E. C., Lu, M., Beck, R., Hendrix, J., Hodsdon, M. E., & Hansson, O. (2026). Plasma P-tau217 for detecting amyloid clearance after donanemab in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71740
Vancouver
Collins EC, Lu M, Beck R, Hendrix J, Hodsdon ME, Hansson O. Plasma P-tau217 for detecting amyloid clearance after donanemab in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2026. doi:10.1002/alz.71740. PMID: 42565262.
BibTeX
@article{collins2026-42565262,
author = {Collins, E. C. and Lu, M. and Beck, R. and Hendrix, J. and Hodsdon, M. E. and Hansson, O.},
title = {{Plasma P-tau217 for detecting amyloid clearance after donanemab in Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& Dementia},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1002/alz.71740},
pmid = {42565262},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.71740}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- The diagnostic performance of p-tau217 in detecting post-treatment TRAC ( Results Plasma p-tau217 showed suboptimal performance in detecting TRAC by PET in donanemab-treated participants (N = 830), with an area under the ROC curve of 0.61 at 52 weeks.
Why it matters
This analysis of the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 trial found that plasma p-tau217 performed suboptimally in detecting amyloid clearance by PET after donanemab treatment, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.61 at 52 weeks. The authors conclude that this biomarker cannot currently be used to accurately detect treatment-related amyloid clearance in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Study designphase-3-trial
- Participants830
- Effect sizeAUC 0.61 for plasma p-tau217 detecting amyloid clearance by PET at 52 weeks
- Evidence strengthNull-result
Limitations
Single assay and single trial population; industry-authored; other blood markers or ratios were not evaluated here.
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a large phase 3 trial. Scored zero for randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 51 of the 94 points we could judge it on, which is 54 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A large phase 3 trial |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “null-result” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 830 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026 |
| Impact for its field and year | 0 / 6 | Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Oskar Hansson holds only 4 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Eli Lilly (United States): institution h-index 744 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 42565262) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 51 / 94 | Scored on 18 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 51 of the 94 points we could judge it on is 54 out of 100. |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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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