Choline-PET

[pjoshea13]

New German study below.

"The high [(3)H]choline uptake in macrophages may be a source of false-positive PET results in diagnosis of prostate cancer by choline-PET/CT. As already known from FDG-PET, discrimination between tumor and inflammation in prostate cancer patients is not possible via choline-PET."

-Patrick

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/272...

Increased choline uptake in macrophages and prostate cancer cells does not allow for differentiation between benign and malignant prostate pathologies.

Schwarz T1, Seidl C2, Schiemann M3, Senekowitsch-Schmidtke R4, Krause BJ5.

Author information

1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Regensburg University Medical Center, Bad Abbach, Germany.

2Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: [e-mail].

3Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.

4Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.

5Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Universitätsmedizin Rostock, Rostock, Germany.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Inflammatory cells may contribute to the choline uptake in different prostate pathologies. The aim of this study was (i) to assess if inflammatory cells incorporate choline and (ii) to potentially detect differences compared to FDG uptake. Therefore we investigated the uptake of [(3)H]choline and [(18)F]FDG in human prostate carcinoma cells and human inflammatory cells.

METHODS:

Macrophages were cultured from isolated mononuclear cells, gained by density gradient centrifugation of human buffy coats. T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes and granulocytes were enriched by density gradient centrifugation before cell sorting by means of flow cytometry was performed. [(3)H]choline and [(18)F]FDG uptake of isolated inflammatory cells as well as of LNCaP and PC-3 human prostate carcinoma cells was assessed simultaneously in dual tracer uptake experiments.

RESULTS:

Macrophages showed highest [(3)H]choline and [(18)F]FDG uptake compared to the tracer uptake rates of leukocytes. [(3)H]choline uptake of macrophages was in the same range as in prostate cancer cells. Lipopolysaccharide stimulation of macrophages resulted in an increase of [(18)F]FDG uptake in macrophages, but not in an increased [(3)H]choline uptake.

CONCLUSIONS:

The high [(3)H]choline uptake in macrophages may be a source of false-positive PET results in diagnosis of prostate cancer by choline-PET/CT. As already known from FDG-PET, discrimination between tumor and inflammation in prostate cancer patients is not possible via choline-PET.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PATIENT CARE:

The application of choline-PET for reliable primary prostate cancer detection and delineation has to be queried.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

Inflammatory cells; LNCaP cells; Leucocytes; PC-3 cells; [18F]FDG; [3H]choline

PMID:

27260776

[PubMed - in process]

[Chubby42]

Got no idea what any of this means 😞

[pjoshea13 in reply to Chubby42]

It might mean something to those who have an active interest in choline PET scans.

Imaging of PCa has been an issue for a long time. In most cancers, there is increased uptake of glucose. "FDG-PET" refers to a PET scan that uses Fludeoxyglucose, a radiolabeled form of glucose. It is quite effective for most cancers. Not very useful for PCa imaging.

In recent years, the great hope seems to have been for radiolabeled choline for PCa imaging. The German study suggests that it might not be the perfect answer.

-Patrick

[Hidden]

Here are some pretty pictures

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...