Development of an 18F-radioligand for in vivo monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) tumor imaging with PET

Impressive developments in the areas of imaging technology and imaging tracers have strengthened preclinical imaging studies on the “hallmarks of cancer” to provide fundamentals for translation to the clinic. Until today, many positron emission tomography (PET) based molecular biomarkers have been used with that regard [1]. Particularly, significant effort has been dedicated to the development and validation of PET biomarkers for tumor cell proliferation and metabolism. Monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) is an integral plasma membrane protein which bidirectionally transports lactate and ketone bodies along a concentration gradient and is highly expressed in non-hypoxic regions of human colon, breast, head and neck, lung and other tumors. Accordingly, MCT1 inhibitors are regarded to be of potential clinical use [2]. Since there is no selective PET tracer available based on this class of compounds the aim of this project is the development an 18F-labelled radioligand for in vivo imaging of MCT1-overexpressing brain tumors.