Estrogen receptor scintigraphy.

Abstract

Radio-labeled estrogen receptor ligands are tracers that can be used for functional receptor diagnosis. Their specificity towards receptors, together with the fact that only 50-70% of mammary carcinomas are receptor positive, renders them unsuitable for detection of primary tumors or metastases, and this means that estrogen receptor scintigraphy can be used neither for tumor screening nor for staging. However, both 18F-labeled and 123I-labeled estradiol derivatives are suitable for in vivo imaging of estrogen receptors. Their high specificity, established in animal experiments and in vitro studies has been reproduced in in vivo applications in humans. Tracers with positron radiation emitters are, however, hardly suitable for broad application owing to the short half-life of 18F, which would mean that users would need to be situated close to a cyclotron and a correspondingly equipped radiochemical laboratory. The number of available PET scanners, on the other hand, has increased over the last few years, especially in Germany, so that this, at least, does not present a limiting factor. All the same, 123I-labeled estradiol derivatives will find more widespread application, since the number of gamma-cameras incorporating modern multi-head systems is several times greater. The results of studies with 123I-E2-scintigraphy published to date are very promising, even given the initial technical problems mentioned above. As a method of examination, it could be optimised by using improved tracers with a higher tumor contrast and less disturbance from overlapping in diagnostically relevant locations, for instance, by selecting tracers with higher activities whose excretion is more renal than hepatobiliary. The use of modern multi-head camera systems can also be expected to improve the photon yield.