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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
A Practical Guide for the Production and PET/CT Imaging of 68Ga-DOTATATE for Neuroendocrine Tumors in Daily Clinical Practice
Published on: April 17, 2019
Clinical indications for Gallium-68 positron emission tomography imaging
M U Khan1, S Khan, S El-Refaie
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Center, Lahore, Pakistan.
Background:
(68)Ga-PET imaging is showing slow but steady progress when compared to (18)F-FDG PET. The advantage of in-house preparation of (68)Ga without necessity of a cyclotron, and the new generator configuration with future possibility of freeze-dried kits would make it a promising PET agent for the future.
Methods:
An exhaustive literature exploration was performed using the search engines High-Wire Press, Pubmed, Embase and library databases. Recent reviews on the subject and up-to-date studies on the topic were found that described the role of (68)Ga-PET imaging. Clinical experiences, including our own are described.
Results:
Recent resurgence in development of peptides labelled with radiometals, for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, resulted in a new beginning for (68)Ga-PET imaging. Pre-clinical experience employing animal models and investigation of tracer kinetics/tumour uptake measurements using dynamic (68)Ga-PET have provided data regarding identification of Somatostatin receptors subtypes on many tumours. Present published experiences including our own support these and highlight current clinical utility of (68)Ga-PET imaging. (68)Ga-DOTATOC and (68)Ga-DOTANOC are the most prominent radiopharmaceuticals used nowadays.
Conclusion:
(68)Ga-PET is employed in the management of neuroendocrine tumours and neural crest tumours (phaeochromocytoma and paraganglioma) with diagnostic and therapeutic implications where it compliments present radiologic and scintigraphic procedures. Diagnosis and radiotherapy treatment planning for meningiomas in pertinent clinical setting is another potential use of (68)Ga-PET. Limited studies have shown its utility in prostate cancer but further studies are contemplated. Therefore, current experience tends to open a new horizon for the clinical utility of (68)Ga-PET imaging in future.
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