Visualisation and assessment of the protein synthesis rate of lung cancer using carbon-11 tyrosine and positron emission tomography

This study evaluated the potential role of L-(1-C-11)-tyrosine positron emission tomography (TYR PET) for visualisation and quantification of protein metabolism in lung cancer, Dynamic TYR PET scans of the thorax were performed in 17 patients with lung cancer. Protein synthesis rate (PSR in mumol/min.1) and standardised uptake value (SUV, corrected for body measurements) of turnout tissue and contralateral normal tissue were calculated before and after chemotherapy or radiotherapy. All tumours [11 non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs), five small cell lung carcinomas (SCLCs), and one pleural mesothelioma] were visualised as a hot spot. The median PSR in tumour tissue was higher than that in corresponding contralateral normal lung tissue before [1.88 mumol/min.1 (range 1.10-3.42) vs 0.40 mumol/min.1 (range 0.12-0.86); P=0.003] and after treatment [1.33 mumol/min.1 (range 0.45-2.21) vs 0.28 mumol/min.1 (range 0.18-0.51); P