Published in:
01-09-2020 | Positron Emission Tomography | Original Article
Dynamic PET/CT imaging of 18F-(2S, 4R)4-fluoroglutamine in healthy volunteers and oncological patients
Authors:
Xiaoxia Xu, Hua Zhu, Fei Liu, Yan Zhang, Jianhua Yang, Lifang Zhang, Qing Xie, Lin Zhu, Nan Li, Hank F. Kung, Zhi Yang
Published in:
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
|
Issue 10/2020
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Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare dynamic 18F-FGln PET/CT images of healthy subjects and cancer patients and explore the best imaging phase for different cancers.
Methods
Thirteen healthy volunteers and 31 cancer patients separately underwent 18F-FGln and 18F-FDG PET/CT scans within 1 week. The distributions of 18F-FGln and 18F-FDG in the whole body and the tumor avidity were analyzed and compared. The tumor maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) and tumor-to-nontumor SUV ratio (SUR) of 18F-FGln/PET at different scan phases were compared.
Results
Compared to the healthy subjects, the cancer patients had lower 18F-FGln activity (SUVmean) in most normal organs, especially in the lung, muscle, spleen, and heart (p < 0.05). Additionally, the FGln-avid tumors did not necessarily manifest as FDG-avid and vice versa. Overall, among the 31 primary malignant lesions confirmed by biopsy or postoperative pathological analysis, 29 showed increased radioactive uptake on all 18F-FGln PET/CT imaging phases. The peak of SUVmax in breast and thyroid cancers was within 10 min, while in lung cancers, the plateau of SUVmax was within 30 min to 60 min. The SURs of lung cancer (p = 0.046) and thyroid cancer (p = 0.794) increased from the early-phase to the late-phase acquisition; however, a significant decrease was observed in the breast lesions (p = 0.022).
Conclusions
18F-FGln images may further supplement the diagnostic ability of 18F-FDG in cancer patients and detect metabolic changes in different tumors. Furthermore, the imaging time for 18F-FGln PET/CT needs to be optimized for different cancer types to improve the contrast resolution of tumors.