Fluorine-18 labeled amino acids for tumor PET/CT imaging

Tumor glucose metabolism and amino acid metabolism are usually enhanced, (18)F-FDG for tumor glucose metabolism PET imaging has been clinically well known, but tumor amino acid metabolism PET imaging is not clinically familiar. Radiolabeled amino acids (AAs) are an important class of PET/CT tracers that target the upregulated amino acid transporters to show elevated amino acid metabolism in tumor cells. Radiolabeled amino acids were observed to have high uptake in tumor cells but low in normal tissues and inflammatory tissues. The radionuclides used in labeling amino acids include (15)O, (13)N, (11)C, (123)I, (18)F and (68)Ga, among which the most commonly used is (18)F [1]. Available data support the use of certain (18)F-labeled AAs for PET/CT imaging of gliomas, neuroendocrine tumors, prostate cancer and breast cancer [2, 3]. With the progress of the method of (18)F labeling AAs [4–6], (18)F-labeled AAs are well established for tumor PET/CT imaging. This review focuses on the current status of key clinical applications of 18F-labeled AAs in tumor PET/CT imaging.