18F-Labeled Somatostatin Analogs as PET Tracers for the Somatostatin Receptor: Ready for Clinical Use

Abstract

Molecular imaging of the somatostatin receptor plays a key role in the clinical management of neuroendocrine tumors. PET imaging with somatostatin analogs (SSAs) labeled with ⁶⁸Ga or ⁶⁴Cu is currently the gold standard in clinical practice. However, widespread implementation of ⁶⁸Ga imaging is often hampered by practical and economic issues related to ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga generators. ¹⁸F offers several advantages to tackle these issues. Recent developments in radiochemistry have allowed a shift from ⁶⁸Ga toward ¹⁸F labeling, leading to promising clinical translations of ¹⁸F-labeled SSAs, such as Gluc-Lys-[¹⁸F]FP-TOCA, [¹⁸F]F-FET-βAG-TOCA, [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-octreotide, [¹⁸F]SiTATE, and [¹⁸F]AlF-NOTA-JR11. This review gives an update of currently available clinical data regarding ¹⁸F-labeled SSA tracers and provides justification for the clinical application of this class of tracers.

Keywords: fluorine-18-labeled PET tracer; neuroendocrine; neuroendocrine tumor; radiopharmaceuticals; somatostatin analogue; somatostatin receptor.