The development of gallium-68 -1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclodecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid ((68)Ga-DOTA) compounds was made possible due to the chemistry of (68)Ga, which matches the pharmacokinetics of many peptides, specially the chelators DOTA and DOTAderivatives with the formation of stable (68)Ga (3+) complexes. The availability of this tracer from a germanium-68-gallium-68 generator with a rel...

Fusarinine C (FSC), a siderophore-based chelator coupled with the model peptide c(RGDfK) (FSC(succ-RGD)3), revealed excellent targeting properties in vivo using positron emission tomography (PET). Here, we report the details of radiolabeling conditions and specific activity as well as selectivity for (68)Ga. (68)Ga labeling of FSC(succ-RGD)3 was optimized regarding peptide concentration, pH, te...

BACKGROUND Ga-labeled radiotracers are increasingly used for PET imaging. During the labeling procedure, formation of (68)Ga-colloid may occur. Upon i.v. injection, (68)Ga-colloid will accumulate rapidly in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow, resulting in reduced target-to-background ratios. In this study, we applied a thin layer chromatography (TLC) method to measure colloid content and we stu...

PURPOSE Aminopeptidase N (APN/CD13) plays an important role in tumor neoangiogenic process and the development of metastases. Furthermore, it may serve as a potential target for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Previous studies have already shown that asparagine-glycine-arginine (NGR) peptides specifically bind to APN/CD13. The aim of the study was to synthesize and investigate the APN/CD13 specif...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combined (68)Ga and (18)F-FDG PET/CT on treatment management for patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNET). METHODS Between January 2012 and April 2014, 49 consecutive patients with a cytologically and/or histologically proven diagnosis of PNET underwent combined (68)Ga and (18)FDG PET/CT on the same day. RESULTS The stu...

Objective. This study was aimed to study tissue distribution and tumor imaging potential of (68)Ga-glycopeptide (GP) in tumor-bearing rodents by PET. Methods. GP was synthesized by conjugating glutamate peptide and chitosan. GP was labeled with (68)Ga chloride for in vitro and in vivo studies. Computer outlined region of interest (counts per pixel) of the tumor and muscle (at the symmetric site...

(68)Ga represents one of the very early radionuclides applied to positron emission tomography (PET) imaging at a time when even the wording PET itself was not established. Today it faces a renaissance in terms of new (68)Ge/(68)Ga radionuclide generators, sophisticated (68)Ga radiopharmaceuticals, and state-of-the-art clincial diagnoses via positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/...

OBJECTIVES In nuclear medicine studies, gallium-68 ((8)Ga) citrate has been recently known as a suitable infection agent in positron emission tomography (PET). In this study, by applying an in-house produced (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator, a simple technique for the synthesis and quality control of (68)Ga-citrate was introduced; followed by preliminary animal studies. METHODS (68)GaCl3 eluted from t...