Applications of PET imaging of neurological tumors with radiolabeled amino acids

Routine diagnostics and treatment monitoring of brain tumors is usually based on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, the capacity of structural MRI to differentiate neoplastic tissue from non-specific treatment changes may be limited especially after therapeutic interventions such as neurosurgical resection, radio- and chemotherapy. Metabolic imaging using PET may provide relevant additional information on tumor metabolism, which allows for more accurate diagnostics especially in clinically equivocal situations. In contrast to the widely used ¹⁸F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose, which exhibits a poor tumor-to-background contrast within the brain, amino acid tracers provide high sensitivity to detect primary tumors, recurrent or residual gliomas, including most low-grade gliomas. The method improves targeting of biopsy and provides additional information of tumor extent, which is helpful for planning neurosurgery and radiotherapy. In the further course of the disease, amino acid positron-emission tomography (PET) allows a sensitive monitoring of treatment response, the early detection of tumor recurrence, and an improved differentiation of tumor recurrence from treatment-related changes. In the past, the method had only limited availability due to the use of radiopharmaceuticals with a short half-life. In recent years, however, novel amino acid tracers labeled with positron emitters with a longer half-life have been developed and clinically validated which allow a more efficient and cost-effective application. These developments and the well-documented diagnostic performance of PET using radiolabeled amino acids suggest that its application continues to spread and that the method may be available as a routine diagnostic technique for certain indications in the near future