title: Carbon-11-methionine and PET is an effective method to image head and neck cancer.
abstract: Methionine metabolism is altered in cancer, and methionine labeled with 11C has been successfully used for imaging of brain, lung, and breast cancer and lymphoma. Uptake of L-[methyl-11C]methionine (11C-methionine) in head and neck cancer of 23 patients was studied with PET. Accumulation of 11C-methionine in the tumors was assessed by two different methods: the influx constant, Ki, and the standardized uptake value (SUV). All 23 cancers accumulated 11C-methionine. The mean Ki was 0.147 +/- 0.070 min-1 and the mean SUV 8.5 +/- 3.5. There was a strong correlation between the two measures of tumor uptake (r = 0.92, p less than 0.0001). There was no correlation between the uptake of 11C-methionine and the histological grade of cancer. Head and neck cancer can thus be effectively imaged with 11C-methionine. Carbon-11-methionine PET imaging may be useful in delineating tumors for therapy planning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Turku University Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leskinen-Kallio
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Någren
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lehikoinen
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ruotsalainen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Teräs
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Joensuu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008715:Methionine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D008715:Methionine; C038344:methionine methyl ester