Radioactive labeling of HPMA-based polymeric systems with fluorine-18 for in vivo imaging and evaluation by positron emission tomography (PET)

Introduction: During the last decades polymer therapeutics became more and more an emerging field of interest. An example which has already been intensively studied in clinical trials is the biocompatible polymeric backbone N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-methacrylamide (HPMA). Nevertheless, detailed knowledge about the biodistribution of polymeric drug-delivery systems in living organisms is still lacking. Especially information about the tumor accumulation in vivo due to the enhanced permeability and retention effect are of major interest. Here, positron emission tomography (PET) as non-invasive, molecular whole body imaging technique offers a great opportunity to visualize the in vivo behavior of radioactively labeled polymeric structures.