TARGETING PEPT1 FOR DETECTING PANCREAS CANCER WITH [~11C]GLY-SAR: MICROPET IMAGING OF NUDE MICE BEARING ASPC-1, CAPAN-2, and MPANC-96 XENOGRAFTS

摘要

Background; Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease, with over 30,00 patients affected in the USA in 2004 [1] and only a 3-5% two-year survival. Early detection and accurate staging are believed to be the only way to improve prognoses, yet diagnosis remains challenging. Many PET tracers have been used for imaging tumors by targeting specific features that discriminate tumor from normal cells [2], but none are very effective for pancreatic cancer. Recent studies reported amplification of peptide transporter PepTl in tumors, including human pancreatic cancer cell lines AsPC-1 and Capan-2 [3]. In normal tissue, PepTl and its homolog PepT2 transport di- and tri-peptides and many peptidomimetic drugs into cells. A radiotracer for PepTl could be useful for identification and staging of pancreatic cancer.