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Published in: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 1/2012

01-02-2012 | Review Article

68Ga-labelled peptides for diagnosis of gastroenteropancreatic NET

Authors: Valentina Ambrosini, Davide Campana, Paola Tomassetti, Stefano Fanti

Published in: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | Special Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

In the past few years, the introduction of novel PET tracers labelled with 68Ga has changed the diagnostic approach to neuroendocrine tumours (NET) in specialized centres. Although somatostatin analogue tracers labelled with 111In have represented the gold standard imaging modality for NET detection in past decades, the advantages offered by both labelling somatostatin analogues with 68Ga and using PET/CT tomography for image acquisition, account for the increasing use of these tracers in clinical practice. There are an increasing number of reports of the higher accuracy of 68Ga-DOTA peptide PET/CT for the detection of NET lesions as compared to morphological imaging procedures and somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. Moreover, the use of 68Ga-DOTA peptides offers the possibility to noninvasively evaluate NET cells for the presence of somatostatin receptor expression, with direct therapeutic implications. Several practical advantages also favour the use of 68Ga-DOTA peptides including the relatively easy and economic synthesis process and the fact that 68Ga labelling can be performed in centres without an on-site cyclotron. We describe the advantages and limitations of 68Ga-DOTA peptide PET/CT imaging for the assessment of gastroenteropancreatic NET referring to the available literature as well as to our experience, and finally highlight potential future perspectives.
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Metadata
Title
68Ga-labelled peptides for diagnosis of gastroenteropancreatic NET
Authors
Valentina Ambrosini
Davide Campana
Paola Tomassetti
Stefano Fanti
Publication date
01-02-2012
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging / Issue Special Issue 1/2012
Print ISSN: 1619-7070
Electronic ISSN: 1619-7089
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-011-1989-4

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