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. 2017 Jan 14;12(1):17.
doi: 10.1186/s13014-017-0763-6.

Relationship between the uptake of 18F-borono-L-phenylalanine and L-[methyl-11C] methionine in head and neck tumors and normal organs

Yoshiaki Watanabe  1   2 , Hiroaki Kurihara  3 , Jun Itami  4 , Ryohei Sasaki  5 , Yasuaki Arai  2 , Kazuro Sugimura  1
Affiliations

Relationship between the uptake of 18F-borono-L-phenylalanine and L-[methyl-11C] methionine in head and neck tumors and normal organs

Yoshiaki Watanabe et al. Radiat Oncol. .

Abstract

Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of 4-borono-2-18F-fluoro-phenylalanine (18F-BPA) and L-[methyl-11C] methionine (11C-Met) in normal organs and tumors and to evaluate the usefulness of 11C-Met/PET in screening potential candidates for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT).

Material methods: Seven patients who had at least one histologically confirmed head and neck tumor were included in this study. They underwent both whole-body 18F-BPA-PET/CT and 11C-Met-PET/CT within a span of 6 months. Uptake was evaluated using the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). Regions of interest (ROIs) were placed within the tumors and target organs of brain, thyroid, submandibular gland, lung, liver, esophagus, stomach pancreas, spleen, muscle, and bone marrow.

Results: The tumor SUVmax of FBPA and 11C-Met showed strong correlation (r 2 = 0.72, P = 0.015). Although 18F-BPA and 11C-Met showed markedly different uptake in some organs (submandibular gland, liver, heart, stomach pancreas, spleen, and bone marrow), the uptake of 11C-Met was consistently higher than that of 18F-BPA in these cases.

Conclusion: 11C-Met PET/CT might be used instead of 18F-BPA PET/CT to predict the accumulation of 10B in tumors and to select candidates for BNCT. However, it would not be suitable for evaluating accumulation in some normal organs. Therefore, the 18F-BPA-PET study remains a prerequisite for BNCT. This is the first report of the correlation between 18F-BPA and 11C-Met accumulation.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Representative 11C-Met and 18F-BPA PET/CT (patient No. 6). Upper panel: maximum intensity projection imaging. Lower panel: PET/CT fusion image. a 11C-Met-PET/CT at 10 min after injection. Tumor SUVmax was 5.8. (*). High physiological uptake is shown in the salivary glands (arrows), bone marrow, and some abdominal organs. b 18F-BPA-PET/CT at 1 h after injection. Tumor SUVmax was 4.7. (*). Physiological uptake is generally low
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Correlation of SUVmax between 18F-BPA and 11C-Met in head and neck tumors. A close linear correlation is observed between FBPA uptake and MET uptake in head and neck tumors (r 2 = 0.72, P = 0.15)
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