title: ¹⁸F-FAMT uptake correlates with tumor proliferative activity in oral squamous cell carcinoma: comparative study with ¹⁸F-FDG PET and immunohistochemistry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  L-3-[¹⁸F]-fluoro-α-methyl tyrosine (FAMT) is transported into cancer cells by L: -type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1). The purpose of the present study is to correlate the uptake of FAMT and FDG with the cellular proliferative activity measured by the Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five patients with OSCC were enrolled in this study. Both FAMT-PET and FDG-PET were performed within 4 weeks before surgery in all cases. The uptake of FAMT and FDG was compared by semiquantitative analysis with maximal standardized uptake values (SUVmax) of the primary tumors. Ki-67 LI of the tumors was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining and correlated with the clinicopathologic variables and the uptake of PET tracers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For primary tumor detection, FAMT-PET exhibited a sensitivity of 84%, whereas that of FDG-PET was 88%. In all visible lesions, mean FDG uptake determined by average SUVmax was 9.7 (range 4.2-15.9) and mean FAMT uptake was 3.5 (range 1.3-8.5). The SUVmax of FAMT tended to show a better correlation with Ki-67 LI (r = 0.878) than that of FDG (r = 0.643).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Uptake of FAMT correlated with cellular proliferation of OSCC. FAMT-PET may be a useful procedure to evaluate tumor proliferation of OSCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology and Oral Surgery, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Go
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oriuchi
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arisaka
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hanaoka
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Mitsuyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyakubo
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishikita
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakasone
authors.forename: Akihide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Negishi
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoo
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Endo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001692:Biological Transport; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C493093:O-(18F)fluoromethyl-L-tyrosine; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D014443:Tyrosine