Choline Molecular Imaging with Small-animal PET for Monitoring Tumor Cellular Response to Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer

摘要

We are developing and evaluating choline molecular imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) for monitoring tumor response to photodynamic therapy (PDT) in animal models. Human prostate cancer (PC-3) was studied in athymic nude mice. A second-generation photosensitizer Pc 4 was used for PDT in tumor-bearing mice. MicroPET images with ~(11)C-choline were acquired before PDT and 48 h after PDT. Time-activity curves of ~(11)C-choline uptake were analyzed before and after PDT. For treated tumors, normalized choline uptake decreased significantly 48 h after PDT, compared to the same tumors pre-PDT (p < 0.001). However, for the control tumors, normalized choline uptake increased significantly (p < 0.001). PET imaging with ~(11)C-choline is sensitive to detect early tumor response to PDT in the animal model of human prostate cancer.