Accumulation and localization of gallium-67 in various types of primary lung carcinoma

The uptake and location of Ga-67 were investigated in 15 primary pulmonary carcinomas. The accumulation in the tumor was determined by scintigraphy of the patient, grain counts over fields of tumor cells in autoradiographs of tumor-tissue samples, and gamma counts in specimens of the tumor. Good correlation was found between the results obtained with these three methods. The relationship between accumulation of Ga-67 in the tumor and the histologic type of tumor was also studied. Undifferentiated carcinomas, and tumor cells in squamous-cell carcinomas showed significantly more Ga-67 than tumor cells in adenocarcinomas. No correlation was found between the presence of inflammatory infiltrates in or around the tumor and the grade of the scintigraphic images. In the autoradiograms, lymphocytes, plasma cells, granulocytes, and macrophages showed less radioactivity than the tumor cells--or none at all. Collagen fibers appeared to have bound some Ga-67, but necrotic areas showed no uptake.