Chapter 6 luorotrypt5-F ophan as potential PET tracer for neuroendocrine tumors

[11C]-5-HTP scanning in patients showed powerful results in the detection of neuroendocrine tumors. An 18F labeled tryptophan analog with a longer radioactive half-life than [11C]-5-HTP would increase clinical applicability because availability of [18F]fluorotryptophan enables widespread use. Our results show that 5-fluorotryptophan (5-FTP) has, similar to 5-HTP, favorable characteristics to accumulate in a human neuroendocrine tumor cell line. An enzymatic synthesis towards 5-FTP gave high yields (73 ± 6 %) showing that an analogous synthesis of [18F]-5-FTP is feasible. 5-FTP is a potential tracer for the detection of neuroendocrine tumors