Complementary roles of tumour specific PET tracer ¹⁸F-FAMT to ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT for the assessment of bone metastasis.

PURPOSE: The usefulness of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for bone metastasis evaluation has already been established. The amino acid PET tracer [(18)F]-3-fluoro-alpha-methyl tyrosine ((18)F-FAMT) has been reported to be highly specific for malignancy. We evaluated the additional value of (18)F-FAMT PET/CT to complement (18)F-FDG PET/CT in the evaluation of bone metastasis.

METHODS: This retrospective study included 21 patients with bone metastases of various cancers who had undergone both (18)F-FDG and (18)F-FAMT PET/CT within 1 month of each other. (18)F-FDG-avid bone lesions suspicious for malignancy were carefully selected based on the cut-off value for malignancy, and the SUVmax of the (18)F-FAMT in the corresponding lesions were evaluated.

RESULTS: A total of 72 (18)F-FDG-positive bone lesions suspected to be metastases in the 21 patients were used as the reference standard. (18)F-FAMT uptake was found in 87.5 % of the lesions. In the lesions of lung cancer origin, the uptake of the two tracers showed a good correlation (40 lesions, r = 0.68, P < 0.01). Bone metastatic lesions of oesophageal cancer showed the highest average of (18)F-FAMT uptake. Bone metastatic lesions of squamous cell carcinoma showed higher (18)F-FAMT uptake than those of adenocarcinoma. No significant difference in (18)F-FAMT uptake was seen between osteoblastic and osteolytic bone metastatic lesions.

CONCLUSION: The usefulness of (18)F-FAMT PET/CT for bone metastasis detection regardless of the lesion phenotype was demonstrated. The fact that (18)F-FAMT uptake was confirmed by (18)F-FDG uptake suggests that (18)F-FAMT PET/CT has the potential to complement (18)F-FDG PET/CT for the detection of bone metastases.