by Keith Loria

[This report originally ran in the June 2008 edition of DOTmed Business News]

Did you know that fluorodioxyglucose (FDG) could be called the molecule of the century - both this one and the last?At least it is to anyone who has anything to do with nuclear medicine, or anyone who is suffering from an oncological,
cardiological or neurological disease.

FDG is by far the leading radiotracer (also known as radiopharmaceuticals, biomarkers, and probes), used in PETimaging or PET scans (PET stands for position emission tomography). Because FDG is glucose based, it images the metabolic activity of cells. One reason it is so effective in revealing malignancies is that cancer cells are more metabolically active than normal, adjacent cells, so the tumor shows up as a hot spot. FDG is also useful in evaluating various neurological disorders (such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's) and cardiac disorders, among others.

"FDG concentrations correlate very well with key biochemical processes," explained Dr. Henry Wagner, Jr., a recognized authority on nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. "What an FDG-PET scan reveals can then be linked to surgical
decision making. What's more, FGD is easy to synthesize, and it has a two-and-a-half hour half-life, which means you can distribute it from one location throughout an entire city."

Wagner explains that because PET scans examine the biology of cells at the molecular level, the presence of cancer and other diseases can be discovered before any symptoms appear, or before any anatomical changes are visible.

PET/CT imaging combines the biological functioning of the patient (the PET part) with a CT image of the body's structural detail. PET/CT technology improves the diagnostic accuracy and treatment management of patients by providing surgeons, radiation oncologists and other physicians with precise anatomical landmarks associated with a disease.

Robert Ranieri, Vice President of Sales at Biodex Medical Systems, Inc., Shirley, NY- a company with a division that makes equipment to store, transport and administer radiopharmaceuticals - noted that "an FDG-PET image can also detect subtle metabolic changes to determine if a disease is active or dormant. It can be used to determine if a tumor is benign or malignant and may be used to stage certain types of cancer."

A PET scan can do more than image the final destination of a tracer. During the scan - which can last a half hour or more - radioactive signals from the tracer can be continuously tracked, revealing its concentration and movement through the body. The data can be used to reconstruct three-dimensional images showing where the compound goes in the body/brain, and how long it stays there (up to the effective useful half-life of the tracer.)

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