Imaging of gliomas with Cis-4-[ 18F]fluoro-L-proline

• Published in: Nuclear medicine and biology Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 67 - 75
• Main Authors: Langen, Karl-J., Jarosch, Michael, Hamacher, Kurt, Mühlensiepen, Heinz, Weber, Friedrich, Floeth, Frank, Pauleit, Dirk, Herzog, Hans, Coenen, Heinz H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 2004
• Subjects: Adult; Amino acid transport; Animals; Autoradiography; Brain Neoplasms - diagnosis; Brain Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Cell Line, Tumor; Cis-4-[ 18F]fluoro-L-proline; F98 glioma; Female; Glioma - diagnosis; Glioma - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Male; Methionine - analogs & derivatives; Middle Aged; PET; Proline - analogs & derivatives; Radiopharmaceuticals; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography, Emission-Computed - methods; Cis-4-[ 18F]fluoro-L-proline; Autoradiography; Amino acid transport; F98 glioma; PET
• ISSN: 0969-8051; 1872-9614
• DOI: 10.1016/S0969-8051(03)00121-5

Tumor imaging with cis-4-[ 18F]fluoro-L-proline (cis-FPro) was compared to that of L-[ 3H]proline and L-[ 3H]methionine in F98 rat gliomas by dual-tracer autoradiography. All tracers exhibited high accumulation in the tumors but in the normal brain significant uptake was observed for L-[ 3H]methionine only. Tumor extent on autoradiograms with L-[ 3H]proline and L-[ 3H]methionine was identical to that of histological staining while autoradiograms of cis-FPro showed diffuse uptake in the penumbra of some tumors. First PET studies in 7 patients with cerebral gliomas demonstrated accumulation of cis-FPro in tumor areas with enhancement of Gd-DTPA on MR scans. Uptake of cis-FPro in normal brain tissue was negligible. In one patient with a glioblastoma accumulation of cis-FPro was also found in two brain areas without enhancement of Gd-DTPA on MR scans. Control of MRI suggested tumor growth in these areas at further follow up. Our results indicate that in most gliomas increased cis-FPro uptake is restricted to areas with disruption of the BBB which limits its clinical utility.