title: [Use of 11F-fluorothymidine positron emission tomography in brain tumor].
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) with [18F]-fluoro-3'-deoxy-3'-L-fluoro-'thymidine (FLT) provides information on cellular proliferation activity and has been used in malignant brain tumors. FLT-PET is sensitive in detecting malignant glioma due to the very low background uptake in the normal brain tissue. However, the ability to detect low grade glioma and tumor extension appears to be lower for FLT than for methionine (MET). Recent studies have found a correlation between WHO tumor grade and FLT uptake in gliomas. Our recent experience demonstrated a significant difference in the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of FLT between grade II (0.27 +/- 0.06, n=6) and grade IV (2.18 +/- 0.93, n=10) glioma (P < 0.0001), and grade III (0.70 +/- 0.45, n=7) and grade IV glioma (P < 0.001). FLT uptake correlated significantly better with the Ki-67 index (r = 0.86, P < 0.0001) than did MET uptake in gliomas. Studies have also reported the use of FLT-PET to investigate the effectiveness of therapy and prognosis of glioma. Increased FLT accumulation is also observed in other brain tumors including malignant lymphoma and metastatic brain tumor. Further studies are necessary to validate the usefulness of FLT-PET in brain tumor diagnosis and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, Kagawa University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kagawa
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Hirotoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Tomotsugu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamiya
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
chemical_list: D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C002854:alovudine