Yuka Yamamoto MD, PhD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Kenichi Tanaka, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Hiroshi Hoshikawa MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Jun Toyohara, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Yoshihiro Nishiyama MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

A new tracer, 4'-[methyl-11C]-thiothymidine (4DST), has been developed as an in vivo cell proliferation marker based on the DNA incorporation method. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of 4DST PET, compared with FDG PET, for the detection of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Twelve patients with newly diagnosed head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were examined with both 4DST PET and FDG PET. Tumor lesions were identified as areas of focally increased uptake, exceeding that of the surrounding normal tissue. PET results were evaluated by visual and semi-quantitative analyses. For semi-quantitative analysis, the maximal standardized uptake value (SUV) was determined by region-of-interest analysis.

4DST uptake in tumors peaked before 3 minutes and reached a constant level at approximately 10 minutes after injection. Physiological uptake in salivary glands of 4DST was stronger than that of FDG. Both 4DST PET and FDG PET detected all head and neck tumors. The mean (±SD) SUV for 4DST (6.86±2.92) was significantly lower than that for FDG (21.50±12.63) (p<0.0001). A weak correlation was observed between SUV in the tumor on 4DST PET and FDG PET (r=0.456, p<0.05).

These preliminary results indicate that 4DST PET is a potentially useful tracer for proliferation imaging in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, although uptake of 4DST was significantly lower than that of FDG.

4DST PET can detect head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinoma and is recommended in the evaluation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Yamamoto, Y, Tanaka, K, Hoshikawa, H, Toyohara, J, Nishiyama, Y, 4’-[methyl-11C]thiothymidine (4DST) PET for Proliferation Imaging in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Comparison with 18F- FDG PET.  Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14005985.html