Radiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published online before print December 19, 2006, 10.1148/radiol.2422051980

(Radiology 2006;242:498.)

A more recent version of this article appeared on December 1, 2006
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
2422051980v1
242/2/498    most recent
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dankerl, A.
Right arrow Articles by Reske, S. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dankerl, A.
Right arrow Articles by Reske, S. N.
© RSNA, 2006

Molecular Imaging

Multiple Myeloma: Molecular Imaging with 11C-Methionine PET/CT—Initial Experience1

Anja Dankerl, MD, Peter Liebisch, MD, Gerhard Glatting, PhD, Claudia Friesen, PhD, Norbert M. Blumstein, MD, Darius Kocot, MD, Christiane Wendl, MD, Donald Bunjes, MD and Sven N. Reske, MD

1 From the Departments of Nuclear Medicine (A.D., G.G., C.F., N.M.B., D.K., S.N.R.) and Internal Medicine III (P.L., C.W., D.B.), University of Ulm, Robert-Koch-Strasse 8, D-89081 Ulm, Germany. Received December 7, 2005; revision requested January 19, 2006; revision received February 20; accepted March 10; final version accepted May 1. Address correspondence to S.N.R. (e-mail: sven.reske{at}uniklinik-ulm.de).

Purpose: To prospectively assess molecular imaging of multiple myeloma (MM) by using the radiolabeled amino acid carbon 11 (11C) methionine and positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT).

Materials and Methods: The study was approved by the institutional local ethics committee and the national radiation protection authorities. All patients with MM and control patients gave written informed consent. Nineteen patients with MM (11 women, eight men; age range, 42–64 years) and 10 control patients with hyperparathyroidism without hematologic diseases (six women, four men; age range, 43–75 years) underwent PET/CT 20 minutes after injection of a mean of 1.0 GBq ± 0.2 (standard deviation) 11C-methionine. Presence and extent of CT-assessed tumor manifestations and 11C-methionine bone marrow (BM) uptake were determined on the basis of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). BM imaging patterns, normal BM, and maximal lesion 11C-methionine uptake in patients with MM were compared with those in control patients. In two patients with MM, sulfur 35 (35S) methionine uptake in freshly isolated BM plasma cells was measured. Values for SUVmax of groups were compared by using the Mann-Whitney test on a per-patient basis.

Results: 35S-methionine uptake of plasma cells was five- to sixfold higher than in normal BM cells. 11C-methionine BM uptake in control patients was homogeneous and low. All patients with MM except one with exclusively extramedullary myeloma had 11C-methionine–positive lesions. Maximal lesion and normal BM 11C-methionine mean SUVmax were 10.2 ± 3.5 and 4.3 ± 2.0, respectively, and thus were significantly higher than that of BM in the control group (mean, 1.8 ± 0.3; P < .001). Extramedullary MM was clearly visible in three patients (mean SUVmax, 7.2 ± 2.4). Additional 11C-methionine–positive lesions in normal cancellous bone were found in nearly all patients with MM. In pretreated patients with MM, a moderate fraction of osteolytic lesions had no 11C-methionine uptake.

Conclusion: On the basis of increased methionine uptake in plasma cells, active MM can be imaged with 11C-methionine PET/CT.

© RSNA, 2006