| Affiliation: | (1) PET Center, Groningen University Hospital, Groningen, 30.001, 9700, RB, The Netherlands;(2) Department of Surgical Oncology, Groningen University Hospital, Groningen, 30.001, 9700, RB, The Netherlands;(3) Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Groningen University Hospital, Groningen, 30.001, 9700, RB, The Netherlands |
| Abstract: | In recent years, [18F]-fluoro-3 -deoxy-3-L-fluorothymidine ([18F]FLT) has been developed as a proliferation tracer. Imaging and measurement of proliferation with PET could provide us with a non-invasive staging tool and a tool to monitor the response to anticancer treatment. In this review, the basis of [18F]FLT as a proliferation tracer is discussed. Furthermore, an overview of the current status of [18F]FLT-PET research is given. The results of this research show that although [18F]FLT is a tracer that visualises cellular proliferation, it also has certain limitations. In comparison with the most widely used PET tracer, [18F]FDG, [18F]FLT uptake is lower in most cases. Furthermore, [18F]FLT uptake does not always reflect the tumour cell proliferation rate, for example during or shortly after certain chemotherapy regimens. The opportunities provided by, and the limitations of, [18F]FLT as a proliferation tracer are addressed in this review, and directions are given for further research, taking into account the strong and weak points of the new tracer. |
