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Complementary roles of tumour specific PET tracer 18F-FAMT to 18F-FDG PET/CT for the assessment of bone metastasis

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Abstract

Purpose

The usefulness of 18F-FDG PET/CT for bone metastasis evaluation has already been established. The amino acid PET tracer [18F]-3-fluoro-alpha-methyl tyrosine (18F-FAMT) has been reported to be highly specific for malignancy. We evaluated the additional value of 18F-FAMT PET/CT to complement 18F-FDG PET/CT in the evaluation of bone metastasis.

Methods

This retrospective study included 21 patients with bone metastases of various cancers who had undergone both 18F-FDG and 18F-FAMT PET/CT within 1 month of each other. 18F-FDG-avid bone lesions suspicious for malignancy were carefully selected based on the cut-off value for malignancy, and the SUVmax of the 18F-FAMT in the corresponding lesions were evaluated.

Results

A total of 72 18F-FDG-positive bone lesions suspected to be metastases in the 21 patients were used as the reference standard. 18F-FAMT uptake was found in 87.5 % of the lesions. In the lesions of lung cancer origin, the uptake of the two tracers showed a good correlation (40 lesions, r = 0.68, P < 0.01). Bone metastatic lesions of oesophageal cancer showed the highest average of 18F-FAMT uptake. Bone metastatic lesions of squamous cell carcinoma showed higher 18F-FAMT uptake than those of adenocarcinoma. No significant difference in 18F-FAMT uptake was seen between osteoblastic and osteolytic bone metastatic lesions.

Conclusion

The usefulness of 18F-FAMT PET/CT for bone metastasis detection regardless of the lesion phenotype was demonstrated. The fact that 18F-FAMT uptake was confirmed by 18F-FDG uptake suggests that 18F-FAMT PET/CT has the potential to complement 18F-FDG PET/CT for the detection of bone metastases.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professor Junichi Tamura and Associate Professor Yoshio Ohyama of the Department of General Medicine, Professor Hiroshi Koyama of the Department of Public Health, Professor Hiroyuki Kuwano and Dr. Tatsuya Miyazaki of the Department of General Surgical Science, and Dr. Kyoichi Kaira of the Oncology Center, Gunma University, for their generous support of this clinical study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Medicine, Gunma University Hospital, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan

    Motoho Morita

  2. Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan

    Motoho Morita, Tetsuya Higuchi, Arifudin Achmad, Azusa Tokue, Yukiko Arisaka & Yoshito Tsushima

  3. Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    Arifudin Achmad

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  1. Motoho Morita
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Correspondence to Motoho Morita.

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Morita, M., Higuchi, T., Achmad, A. et al. Complementary roles of tumour specific PET tracer 18F-FAMT to 18F-FDG PET/CT for the assessment of bone metastasis. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 40, 1672–1681 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-013-2487-7

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