In vivo comparison of PET and SPECT radiopharmaceuticals in detecting breast cancer.

Abstract

UNLABELLED:

Various radiopharmaceuticals for breast cancer detection have been used for scintimammography and PET. However, few comparative studies have described the uptake of radiopharmaceuticals as a method of detecting breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the radiopharmaceuticals for breast cancer imaging in experimental mice implanted with breast cancer cells.

METHODS:

Six radiopharmaceuticals were studied: three for PET [18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), L-18F-alpha-methyltyrosine (FMT) and 11C-methionine (C-Met)] and three for scintimammography [99mTc-tetrofosmin (TF), 99mTc-sestamibi (MIBI) and 201Tl-chloride (Tl)]. Biodistributions of six different tracers in mice implanted with MCF-7 breast cancer cells were studied 1 and 3 hr after injection.

RESULTS:

Tumor uptake 1 hr after injection was FMT = C-Met > FDG = TF > MIBI = Tl. Thallium-201-chloride showed the highest tumor-to-blood ratio (T/B) among all radiopharmaceuticals because of its fast clearance from circulation. The T/B of the six radionuclides used in this study ranged from 1.26 for C-Met to 12.83 for Tl. Tumor-to-muscle ratio (T/M) revealed FMT = C-Met > FDG > MIBI > TF = Tl. The T/M ranged from 0.20 for TF to 2.29 for FMT. Tumor-to-lung ratio (T/L) varied from 0.45 for TF to 2.41 for FMT. FMT revealed the highest T/L of all six radiopharmaceuticals.

CONCLUSION:

Among radiopharmaceuticals for PET, FMT seemed to be suitable in detecting MCF-7 tumor; whereas for scintimammography, MIBI, TF and Tl appeared to have almost the same detectability of MCF-7 tumor. The results of this study strongly suggest that FMT may have a potential in breast cancer imaging.

• Authors: S Amano, T Inoue, K Tomiyoshi, T Ando, K Endo
• Journal: Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine (J Nucl Med) Vol. 39 Issue 8 Pg. 1424-7 (Aug 1998) ISSN: 0161-5505 [Print] United States
• PMID: 9708521 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Fluorine Radioisotopes
• Radiopharmaceuticals
• alpha-Methyltyrosine

Topics

• Animals
• Breast Neoplasms (diagnostic imaging, metabolism)
• Female
• Fluorine Radioisotopes (pharmacokinetics)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred BALB C
• Mice, Nude
• Neoplasm Transplantation
• Radiopharmaceuticals (pharmacokinetics)
• Tissue Distribution
• Tomography, Emission-Computed
• Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
• alpha-Methyltyrosine (pharmacokinetics)