title: Molecular imaging of brain tumors with 18F-DOPA PET and PET/CT.
abstract: The objective of this study was to give an overview of the potential clinical utility of [18F]-L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (18F-DOPA) PET and PET/CT for imaging of brain tumors. Review articles and reference lists were used to supplement the search findings. 18F-DOPA has been investigated as a PET tracer for primary brain tumors, metastases of somatic cancer, and evaluation of relapse of pathology in patients with brain tumor after surgery and/or radiotherapy on the basis of enhanced cell proliferation. Available studies have provided encouraging preliminary results for diagnosis of brain tumors and relapse after surgery/radiotherapy. In the brain, excellent discrimination between tumor and normal tissue can be achieved because of the low physiological uptake of 18F-DOPA and the high ratio between tumor and normal hemispheric tissue. Information on evaluation of brain metastases is limited but encouraging. PET and PET/CT with 18F-DOPA are useful in diagnosing primary brain tumors and should be recommended in the diagnosis of relapse of disease after surgical treatment and/or radiotherapy. Semiquantitative analysis could improve diagnosis while correlative imaging with MRI is essential. Limits are due to low knowledge of potential pitfalls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli (IS), Italy. ferdinandocalabria@hotmail.it
authors.forename: Ferdinando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Calabria
authors.forename: Agostino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiaravalloti
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Di Pietro
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.forename: Orazio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schillaci
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; C043437:fluorodopa F 18; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine