title: Biological significance of fluorine-18-α-methyltyrosine (FAMT) uptake on PET in patients with oesophageal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  (18)F-FAMT as an amino-acid tracer for positron emission tomography (PET) is useful for detecting human neoplasms. (18)F-FAMT is accumulated in tumour cells solely via L-type amino-acid transporter 1 (LAT1). This study was conducted to investigate the biological significance of (18)F-FAMT uptake in patients with oesophageal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  From April 2008 to December 2011, 42 patients with oesophageal cancer underwent both (18)F-FAMT PET/CT and (18)F-FDG PET/CT before surgical treatment. The immunohistochemical analysis of LAT1, CD98, Ki-67, CD34, p53, p-Akt and p-mTOR was performed on the primary lesions. In vitro experiments were performed to examine the mechanism of (18)F-FAMT uptake.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High uptake of (18)F-FAMT was significantly associated with advanced stage, lymph node metastasis and the expression of LAT1, CD98, Ki-67 and CD34. LAT1 expression yielded a statistically significant correlation with CD98 expression, cell proliferation, angiogenesis and glucose metabolism. In vitro experiments revealed that (18)F-FAMT was specifically transported by LAT1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The uptake of (18)F-FAMT within tumour cells is determined by the LAT1 expression and correlated with cell proliferation and angiogenesis in oesophageal cancer. The present experiments also confirmed the presence of LAT1 as an underlying mechanism of (18)F-FAMT accumulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Oncology Clinical Development, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan [2] Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaira
authors.affiliation: Medical Radioisotope Application Group, Quantum Beam Science Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Gunma 370-1207, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohshima
authors.affiliation: Medical Radioisotope Application Group, Quantum Beam Science Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Gunma 370-1207, Japan.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Ishioka
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sohda
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokobori
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oriuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Imaging, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.affiliation: Division of Bio-system Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 595-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanai
authors.affiliation: Oncology Center, Gunma University Hospital, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology Clinical Development, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asao
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsushima
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oyama
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma 371-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuwano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D027283:Large Neutral Amino Acid-Transporter 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D011859:Radiography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D027283:Large Neutral Amino Acid-Transporter 1; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals