6-[¹⁸F]fluoro-L-fucose: A possible tracer for assessing glycoconjugate synthesis in tumors with positron emission tomography

The potential of 6-[¹⁸F]fluoro-L-fucose (6-[¹⁸F]FFuc) for assessing glycoconjugate synthesis in tumors with positron emission tomography (PET) was investigated. Using the tissue sampling method with five tumor models, different time-radioactivity profiles were found: a nearly constant level in Lewis lung carcinoma (3LL) and different clearance patterns in others. Rapid clearance in normal tissues resulted in preferable uptake ratios for tumor imaging of brain and pancreas. Metabolic studies and the L-fucose loading effects on the tissue uptake proved the tracer to be a biochemically active L-fucose analog. Imaging of the intracranial rat glioma and 3LL in lungs or hepatomas in mice by autoradiography (ARG) and intramuscular VX-2 carcinoma in rabbits by PET was demonstrated. Using double-radionuclide ARG, similar distribution images of 6-[¹⁸F]FFuc and ¹⁴C-L-fucose but different tumor-to-liver uptake ratios were found. A metastasis model seemed to show a higher uptake of both tracers as compared to a primary tumor model.