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PET imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma with 18F-fluoroethylcholine and 11C-choline

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Choline-based radiotracers have been studied for PET imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Using an 18F-labeled choline analog, instead of the 11C-labeled native choline, would facilitate its widespread use in the clinic. In this study, PET with 18F-fluoroethylcholine (FEC) and 11C-choline (CHOL) were compared using an animal model of HCC. The effects of fasting on the performance of choline-based tracers were also investigated.

Methods

A woodchuck model of HCC was used to compare the two tracers, which were administered and imaged in sequence during the same imaging session. Dynamic PET images were generated spanning 50 min starting from tracer injection. Time–activity curves and tracer contrast were calculated in liver regions with tracer accumulation, and the contrast at a late time-point with the two tracers, and between fasted and nonfasted states, were compared.

Results

Foci of HCC with increased uptake ranged in size from 1.0 to 1.6 cm, with mean tumor-to-background contrast of 1.3 with FEC and 1.5 with CHOL at 50 min after injection. The tracers show similar patterns of uptake immediately following administration, and both activities plateaued at 10 min after injection. No significant differences in uptake dynamics or final contrast were observed between the fasted and nonfasted states.

Conclusion

PET imaging of HCC is possible with both CHOL and FEC. Fasting was not found to affect accumulation of either tracer. These results encourage further investigation into the clinical utility of FEC for HCC imaging.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of the Animal Resource Center at CWRU for help with animal care; the technologists in the department of Nuclear Medicine at University Hospitals Case Medical Center for imaging assistance; Anagha Deshmane and Joseph Molter for their help in executing the experiments; Dr. Zachary Goodman for histology interpretation; and Dr. Luca Frullano for help with radiopharmaceutical preparation.

Financial support

This work was supported by NIH/NCI R01 grant CA095307 (PI: Zhenghong Lee).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106-7207, USA

    Jeffrey A. Kolthammer, Nathan Tenley & Zhenghong Lee

  2. Nuclear Medicine Division, Department of Radiology, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    David J. Corn, Chunying Wu, Haibin Tian, Yanming Wang & Zhenghong Lee

Authors
  1. Jeffrey A. Kolthammer
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  2. David J. Corn
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  3. Nathan Tenley
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  4. Chunying Wu
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  5. Haibin Tian
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  6. Yanming Wang
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  7. Zhenghong Lee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhenghong Lee.

Additional information

Jeffrey A. Kolthammer is currently in training (student).

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Kolthammer, J.A., Corn, D.J., Tenley, N. et al. PET imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma with 18F-fluoroethylcholine and 11C-choline. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 38, 1248–1256 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-011-1743-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-011-1743-y

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