Fluorine-18-α-Methyltyrosine Positron Emission Tomography for Diagnosis and Staging of Lung Cancer

Objective: L-\[3-18F\]-α-methyltyrosine (FMT) is an amino-acid tracer for PET. We evaluated the diagnostic usefulness of 18F-FMT PET in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Tumor uptake of 18F-FMT PET was compared with 18F-FDG PET and the correlation with L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) expression also investigated. Method: Fifty patients with NSCLC were enrolled in this study, and a pair of PET study with 18F-FMT and 18F-FDG was performed. LAT1 expression and Ki-67 labeling index of the resected tumors were analyzed by immunohistochemical study.