[68Ga]DOTANOC PET: sex specific differences and influence of diabetes and intake of proton pump inhibitors

Objectives Imaging with [68Ga]DOTANOC PET has become an important modality in patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Physiological uptake has been found to vary strongly in these patients. Some of them tend to develop type 2 diabetes or take proton pump inhibitors, which could affect the physiological uptake pattern, especially in regard to the pancreas and the stomach. The objective of this prospective study was to investigate these influencing aspects and also the significance of gender on the [68Ga]DOTANOC-uptake pattern.

Methods In 51 consecutive patients, who were examined with [68Ga]DOTANOC PET, SUVmax and SUVmean of the pancreas - subdivided into caput, corpus, and cauda -, the stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys and adrenal glands was measured. Corresponding personal data such as sex, age, history of diabetes, usage of proton pump inhibitors or oral antidiabetics and capillary blood glucose levels, were collected. For statistical analysis student's T-test was applied, to determine significant differences.

Results In a study population of 51 patients, 26 were male and 25 female. Neither diabetes nor the intake of proton pump inhibitors proved to significantly alter the physiological uptake, in particular in the pancreas and the stomach. However, significant, gender-specific (male vs female) differences were found regarding SUVmax (16.9 vs 21.4) and SUVmean (8.4 vs 11.3) of the kidneys and SUVmean (17.3 vs 21.7) of the spleen. Also, a gender-specific, non-significant trend was observed, concerning SUVmax of the spleen (28.2 vs 31.9) and the liver (8.5 vs 7.5).

Conclusions Gender yields significant impact on the physiological [68Ga]DOTANOC-uptake pattern, whereas type 2 diabetes and the intake of proton pump inhibitors demonstrated no such effect.