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Published on: March 13, 2018
3'-Deoxy-3'-[18F]Fluorothymidine Uptake Is Related to Thymidine Phosphorylase Expression in Various Experimental
Sonja Schelhaas1, Kathrin Heinzmann2,3, Davina J Honess2
1European Institute for Molecular Imaging (EIMI), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU) Münster, Waldeyerstr. 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.
Purpose:
We recently reported that high thymidine phosphorylase (TP) expression is accompanied by low tumor thymidine concentration and high 3'-deoxy-3'-[18F]fluorothymidine ([18F]FLT) uptake in four untreated lung cancer xenografts. Here, we investigated whether this relationship also holds true for a broader range of tumor models.
Procedures:
Lysates from n = 15 different tumor models originating from n = 6 institutions were tested for TP and thymidylate synthase (TS) expression using western blots. Results were correlated to [18F]FLT accumulation in the tumors as determined by positron emission tomography (PET) measurements in the different institutions and to previously published thymidine concentrations.
Results:
Expression of TP correlated positively with [18F]FLT SUVmax (ρ = 0.549, P < 0.05). Furthermore, tumors with high TP levels possessed lower levels of thymidine (ρ = - 0.939, P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
In a broad range of tumors, [18F]FLT uptake as measured by PET is substantially influenced by TP expression and tumor thymidine concentrations. These data strengthen the role of TP as factor confounding [18F]FLT uptake.
