Carbon-11-methionine PET imaging of malignant melanoma.
The purpose of the study was to assess the feasibility of PET and L-[methyl-11C]methionine (11C-methionine) in the detection of malignant melanoma.


METHODS
Ten patients diagnosed with malignant melanoma (two with primary melanoma and eight with metastatic melanoma of the skin) but had no liver metastases underwent a PET study before starting cancer therapy. Dynamic scanning was performed for 40 min in seven patients and 10-20 min in three patients 25-45 min postinjection.


RESULTS
Carbon-11-methionine PET detected all melanoma lesions greater than 1.5 cm (n = 22) in diameter, whereas five smaller pulmonary lesions were not detected. The average standardized uptake value of the untreated lesions was 6.3 +/- 2.1 (n = 19) and the uptake rate (influx constant) was 0.085 +/- 0.041 min-1 (n = 16).


CONCLUSIONS
PET imaging with 11C-methionine is an effective method for visualizing melanoma. It may also be useful in measuring tumor metabolic activity in vivo.
Lindholm
P
P
Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Cyclotron/PET Center, University of Turku, Finland.
Leskinen
S
S
Någren
K
K
Lehikoinen
P
P
Ruotsalainen
U
U
Teräs
M
M
Joensuu
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004428:Ear Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004431:Ear, External; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000556:secondary*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000556:secondary*; D008715:Methionine; D008875:Middle Aged; D009296:Nasal Cavity; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
C086242:carbon-11 methionine; D008715:Methionine