Positron emission tomography (PET) has proven to be an invaluable tool in the staging and management of disease in oncology; however, [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) remains the most widely used PET radiopharmaceutical despite the large financial investment in novel radiotracer development. We report our perspective and experience of translating radiopharmaceuticals into clinical studies, discussing the PET development pipeline from a chemistry perspective. We hope that, by identifying potential points of attrition along the pipeline and suggesting solutions to these problems, we may help others take their preclinical radiotracers into human studies. This review focuses primarily on the development of fluorine-18 radiopharmaceuticals, although the broader field of radiometal chemistry is considered where the translation journey is similar.
Keywords: clinical translation; metabolism; positron emission tomography; radiochemistry; radiopharmaceuticals.