Novel PET Tracer Developed for Imaging Prostate Tumors

The results of the study were published online in the August 1, 2017, issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Sarcosine is partly responsible for the aggressiveness and progression of prostate cancer and enters cells via Proton-coupled Amino acid Transporters (PAT).

The results of the study showed that in preclinical models 11C-sarcosine could produce high-contrast images of a human prostate cancer, and that 11C-sarcosine PET tumor-to-background ratios were significantly higher than those for 11C-choline. The researchers concluded that 11C-sarcosine has potential benefits over 11C-choline, and is a viable prostate cancer imaging tracer.

Professor of radiology at the University of Michigan Division of Nuclear Medicine, Morand Piert, MD, said, "Given the link between 11C-sarcosine cell uptake and PAT transport, the study provides first evidence that PAT expression can be elevated in prostate cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first radiotracer to interrogate the activity of PATs, which play a role as multi-purpose carriers with distinct roles in different cells. In the brain, these transporters are involved in the neuronal amino acid transport. In the intestinal tract, certain PATs play a role as nutrient and drug transporter."

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