title: Evaluation of DNA synthesis with carbon-11-labeled 4'-thiothymidine.
abstract: In the cancer research field, the preferred method for evaluating the proliferative activity of cancer cellsin vivois to measure DNA synthesis rates. The cellular proliferation rate is one of the most important cancer characteristics, and represents the gold standard of pathological diagnosis. Positron emission tomography (PET) has been used to evaluatein vivoDNA synthetic activity through visualization of enhanced nucleoside metabolism. However, methods for the quantitative measurement of DNA synthesis rates have not been fully clarified. Several groups have been engaged in research on 4'-[methyl-11C]-thiothymidine (11C-4DST) in an effort to develop a PET tracer that allows quantitative measurement ofin vivoDNA synthesis rates. This mini-review summarizes the results of recent studies of thein vivomeasurement of cancer DNA synthesis rates using11C-4DST.
authors.affiliation: Jun Toyohara, Research Team for Neuroimaging, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toyohara
keywords: 4′-[methyl-11C]-thiothymidine; Cell proliferation; DNA synthesis; Positron emission tomography; Tumor