N-(F-18)-fluoroacetyl-D-glucosamine: a new positron labeled pharmaceutical for cancer study

In order to evaluate the role of hexosamine metabolism in tumor tissue, we studied the biodistribution of N-(F-18)-fluoroacetyl-D-glucosamine (FAGlu) in male Donryu rats bearing poorly differentiated hepatomas (AH109A and AH272). Compare with the former result of the high tumor uptake of FAGlu in C3H/He mice bearing well differentiated spontaneous hepatoma, the tumor uptakes of FAGlu in these tumors showed the lower values. This suggested that spontaneous hepatoma maintained a high activity of glucosamine metabolism, while poorly differentiated hepatoma had little activity. Metabolism of glucosamine in tumor tissue may be another marker for characterizing tumors. We also discuss the tissue distribution of new F-18 labeled hexosamines, N-(F-18)-fluoroacetyl-D-mannosamine and N-(F-18)-fluoroacetyl-D-galactosamine in tumor bearing rats.