Usefulness of technetium-99m tetrofosmin liver imaging to detect hepatocellular carcinoma and related to expression of P-glycoprotein or multidrug resistance associated protein-a preliminary report.
Technetium-99m Tetrofsomin (Tc-TF) has been shown to be useful in identifying several types of tumors, such as breast, lung, and thyroid cancers. There was no report in the literature for Tc-TF uptake in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of Tc-TF liver imaging to detect HCC and investigate the relationship between Tc-TF liver imaging findings and P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and multidrug resistance associated protein (MRP) expression. Before any therapy, 22 patients with HCC were enrolled in this study. Tc-TF liver images were performed l0 minutes after intravenous injection of 20mCi Tc-TF. All patients had liver biopsy or surgery within l week after Tc-TF liver imaging. Immunohistochemical study of the biopsy or resected HCC specimens was performed using anti-human Pgp and MRP antibodies. Twenty of the 22 (90.9%) patients showed negative Tc-TF liver imaging results without significant Tc-TF uptake in HCC, whereas only the remaining 2 (9.1%) patients showed positive Tc-TF liver imaging results with significant Tc-TF uptake in HCC. Positive Pgp expression was observed in 13 of 20 patients with negative Tc-TF liver imaging results, whereas positive MRP expression was observed in 6 of the remaining 7 patients with negative both Tc-TF liver imaging results and Pgp expression. However, negative Pgp expression but positive MRP expression was observed in all of the remaining 2 patients with positive Tc-TF liver imaging results. The correlation between Tc-TF liver imaging findings and Pgp expression was significant and better than between Tc-TF liver imaging findings and MRP expression. Pgp or MRP expression in HCC may induce no significant Tc-TF uptake in HCC resulting in negative Tc-TF liver imaging findings. Therefore, Tc-TF liver imaging is potential to be a non-invasive method to predict Pgp or MRP expression in HCC. However, further studies with a larger series of patients and longer follow-up time are necessary to confirm our findings.
Ding
H J
HJ
Department of Medical Research, School of Technology for Medical Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Republic of China, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Huang
W T
WT
Tsai
C S
CS
Chang
C S
CS
Kao
A
A
D020168:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D027425:ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D020168:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D027425:ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C Proteins; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C078700:technetium tc-99m tetrofosmin