title: Kinetic filtering of [(18)F]Fluorothymidine in positron emission tomography studies.
abstract: [(18)F]Fluorothymidine (FLT) is a cell proliferation marker that undergoes predominantly hepatic metabolism and therefore shows a high level of accumulation in the liver, as well as in rapidly proliferating tumours. Furthermore, the tracer's uptake is substantial in other organs including the heart. We present a nonlinear kinetic filtering technique which enhances the visualization of tumours imaged with FLT positron emission tomography (FLT-PET). A classification algorithm to isolate cancerous tissue from healthy organs was developed and validated using 29 scan data from patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. A large reduction in signal from the liver and heart of 80% was observed following application of the kinetic filter, whilst the majority of signal from both primary tumours and metastases was retained. A scan acquisition time of 60 min has been shown to be sufficient to obtain the necessary kinetic data. The algorithm extends utility of FLT-PET imaging in oncology research.
authors.affiliation: MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Katherine R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Kaiyumars B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Contractor
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kenny
authors.forename: Adil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Nahhas
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shousha
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stebbing
authors.forename: Harpreet S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wasan
authors.forename: R Charles
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Coombes
authors.forename: Eric O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Aboagye
authors.forename: Federico E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Turkheimer
authors.forename: Lula
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosso
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D001940:Breast / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D016014:Linear Models; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; C002854:alovudine