HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lapela, M. Articles by Joensuu, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lapela, M. Articles by Joensuu, H.

Imaging of Uterine Carcinoma by Carbon-11-Methionine and PET

Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Department of Pathology, and Turku Medical Cyclotron/PET Center, Turku University
Medical Imaging Center and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Turku University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Maria Lapela, MD, Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Turku University Central Hospital, FIN - 20 520 Turku, Finland.

ABSTRACT

L-[methyl-¹¹C]methionine ([¹¹C)methionine) is probably one of the most useful positron-emitting tracers for metabolic imaging of human cancer. In this study, we investigated whether human uterine cancer can be imaged with [^11Cjmethionine and PET. Methods: Fourteen patients with primary uterine malignancy participated in the study. Eight patients had endometrial card noma and six had cervical carcinoma. The normal endometrium was analyzed in four additional patients with no uterine malignancy and in one patient with cervical cancer. Tracer uptake was quantitated by calculating both the Standardized uptake values (SUVs) and the kinetic influx constants (K_i values) for the tracer. Results: All patients with either cervical or endometrial carcinoma had increased uptake of [¹¹C]methionine in the PET image. The mean SUV of the carcinomas was 8.4 (n = 13; s.d., 1.5) and the mean K_i was 0.15 min^–1 (n= 12; s.d., 0.08 min_–1), whereas the mean SUV of the normal endometrium was only 4.6 (n = 5; s.d., 0.8). Histologically poorly (Grade III) or moderately (Grade II) differentiated endometrial carcinomas accumulated more [¹¹C]methionine than the well-differentiated (Grade I) ones (p = 0.04 for the SUVs, and p = 0.05 for the K_i values). There were also variable physiological accumulations of [^11C]methionine in the pelvis. Conclusions: Uterine carcinoma accumulated [¹¹C]methionine more than the normal endometrium. However, the physiological accumulations of [¹¹C]methionine in the pelvis may confuse the interpreter of the PET image; thus, morphological imaging also needs to be performed as a reference to localize the tumor accurately. We conclude that human uterine carcinoma can be effectively imaged with [¹¹C]methionine and PET.

Key Words: PET • methionine • uterine cancer

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Pandit-Taskar Oncologic Imaging in Gynecologic Malignancies J. Nucl. Med., November 1, 2005; 46(11): 1842 - 1850. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. L. Jager, W. Vaalburg, J. Pruim, E. G.E. de Vries, K.-J. Langen, and D. A. Piers Radiolabeled Amino Acids: Basic Aspects and Clinical Applications in Oncology J. Nucl. Med., March 1, 2001; 42(3): 432 - 445. [Abstract] [Full Text]