title: ¹⁸F-fluoromethylcholine or ¹⁸F-fluoroethylcholine pet for prostate cancer imaging: which is better? A literature revision.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present review was conceived for describing the differences in biodistribution and diagnostic performance of two types of (18)F-radiolabeled choline for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in prostate cancer (PCa), such as fluoromethylcholine (FCH) and fluoroethylcholine (FEC).
  
  
  METHODS
  A collection of published data about two radiopharmaceutical agents was made by using PubMed, Web of Knowledge databases and Trip Database, and then a critical revision was discussed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FCH was injected in 338 and 1164 patients, while FEC was injected in 20 and 139 patients, respectively for basal staging and re-staging. The diagnostic performances of FCH and FEC for the detection of lymph node metastasis before the surgical approach are typically around 50% or less and between 0% and 39%, respectively. Conversely, both the tracers appear useful for the detection of recurrent PCa in case of increase in absolute PSA value or in case of high levels of PSA velocity and PSA doubling time (sensitivity ranged between 42.9% and 96% for FCH and between 62% and 85.7% for FEC).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In according with the available information, FCH appears to be a more appropriate radiocompound as compared to FEC, although more comparative data are mandatory. A well designed and prospective trial for the evaluation of biokinetic data and diagnostic performance of both radiopharmaceutical agents seems essential.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FCH seems to be an appropriate radiopharmaceutical agent as compared to FEC. Anyway both the radiocompounds are useful in the evaluation of recurrent disease in case of a serial increase in PSA value and their performance improves when a correct preparation and acquisition protocol is employed.
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Unit, Oncological Institute of Veneto IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy. Electronic address: laura.evangelista@ioveneto.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Evangelista
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Unit, Oncological Institute of Veneto IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Cervino
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncological and Surgical Sciences, Urology Clinic, University of Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guttilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncological and Surgical Sciences, Urology Clinic, University of Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zattoni
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Medicine, Second University of Naples, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cuccurullo
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Medicine, Second University of Naples, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mansi
mesh_terms: D002794:Choline / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: C516370:fluoromethylcholine; C448902:fluoroethylcholine; D002794:Choline
keywords: Diagnostic accuracy; Fluoethylcholine; Fluoromethylcholine; PET imaging; Prostate cancer