PET imaging of multidrug resistance in tumors using 18F-fluoropaclitaxel

• Published in: Current topics in medicinal chemistry Vol. 10; no. 17; p. 1792
• Main Authors: Kurdziel, Karen A, Kiesewetter, D O
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Arab Emirates 01.12.2010
• Subjects: ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1 - metabolism; Drug Resistance, Multiple; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; Fluorine Radioisotopes - chemistry; Humans; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Paclitaxel - analogs & derivatives; Paclitaxel - chemical synthesis; Paclitaxel - chemistry; Positron-Emission Tomography
• ISSN: 1873-4294
• DOI: 10.2174/156802610792928077

The failure of solid tumors to respond to chemotherapy is a complicated and clinically frustrating issue. The ability to predict which tumors will respond to treatment could reduce the human and monetary costs of cancer therapy by allowing pro-active selection of a chemotherapeutic to which the tumor does not express resistance. PET/CT imaging with a radiolabeled form of paclitaxel, F-18 fluoropaclitaxel (FPAC), may be able to predict the uptake of paclitaxel in solid tumors, and as a substrate of P-glycoprotein, it may also predict which tumors exhibit multidrug resistance (MDR), a phenotype in which tumors fail to respond to a wide variety of chemically unrelated chemotherapeutic agents. This article reviews the synthetic, preclinical and early human data obtained during the development phase of this promising new radiopharmaceutical.