Cancer Localization in the Prostate With F-18 Fluorocholine Positron Emission Tomography

The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate fluorine-18 (F-18) fluorocholine (FCH) positron emission tomography (PET) as an imaging technique that can be used to delineate malignant tumors in the prostate gland. The proposed technique works by measuring the tissue metabolism of FCH, a substrate that is preferentially metabolized by cancer cells due to malignant over-expression of the choline transporter and choline kinase enzyme. The project scope covers a clinical study to recruit men with prostate cancer who have elected treatment by radical prostatectomy surgery. These men will undergo pre-operative PET scanning to measure F-18 FCH uptake in anatomical sextants of the prostate gland. Imaging results will be compared to histopathologic analyses of the prostatectomy specimen to determine the accuracy of F-18 FCH PET for detecting cancerous prostate sextants.