title: Proliferation imaging with ¹⁸F-fluorothymidine PET/computed tomography: physiologic uptake, variants, and pitfalls.
abstract: For noninvasive in vivo imaging of proliferation, 18F-FLT PET/CT remains a promising tool, owing to its correlation with proliferation indexes in many tumor entities. Future clinical applications will focus on monitoring response to cancer therapy, whereas tumor detection will be limited to organs with high physiologic 18F-FDG uptake. Use and interpretation of 18F-FLT requires knowledge of the physiologic tracer distribution and how it will be affected by anticancer treatment. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal timing of 18F-FLT PET/CT imaging in the course of cancer therapies or at the conclusion of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Str. 6, Würzburg 97080, Germany. Electronic address: kherrmann@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Oberdürrbacher Str. 6, Würzburg 97080, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Buck
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000375:Aging; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006257:Head / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D009333:Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D013909:Thorax / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013997:Time Factors; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014566:Urogenital System / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
chemical_list: D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C002854:alovudine
keywords: (18)F-fluorothymidine; Cancer; PET/CT; Physiologic variation; Pitfalls; Proliferation