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Copper is required for cancer cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis. Copper-64 radionuclide (64Cu), a form of copper chloride (64CuCl2), is rapidly emerging as a diagnostic PET/CT tracer in oncology. It may also represent an interesting alternative to gallium-68 (68Ga) as a radionuclide precursor for labelling radiopharmaceuticals used to investigate neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer. This emerging interest is also related to the nuclear properties of 64CuCl2 that make it an ideal theragnostic nuclide. Indeed, 64CuCl2 emits β+ and β- particles together with high-linear-energy-transfer Auger electrons, suggesting the therapeutic potential of 64CuCl2 for the radionuclide cancer therapy of copper-avid tumors. Recently, 64CuCl2 was successfully used to image prostate cancer, bladder cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), and non-small cell lung carcinoma in humans. Copper cancer uptake was related to the expression of human copper transport 1 (hCTR1) on the cancer cell surface. Biodistribution, toxicology and radiation safety studies showed its radiation and toxicology safety. Based on the findings from the preclinical research studies, 64CuCl2 PET/CT also holds potential for the diagnostic imaging of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), malignant melanoma, and the detection of the intracranial metastasis of copper-avid tumors based on the low physiological background of radioactive copper uptake in the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Pancreatic Scintigraphy With Interleukin-2 Radiolabeled With 99MTc (99MTc-Il-2) Is A Technique Used To Image Chronic Inflammatory-Mediated Disorders. We Used This Method To Detect A Signal Consistent With The Presence Of Insulitis In Patients With Autoimmune Diabetes. Positive And Negative Controls (Patients With Pancreatic Carcinoma And Type 2 Diabetes, Respectively) Also Were Studied. Research Design And Methods We Examined 25 Patients With Autoimmune Diabetes (16 With Recently Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes, 9 With Latent Autoimmune Diabetes In Adults [Lada]), 6 With Type 2 Diabetes, And 7 With Pancreatic Carcinoma (The Latter Two Groups Were Used As Negative And Positive Controls, Respectively). All Patients Underwent 99MTc-Il-2 Scintigraphy And Contrast-Enhanced Mri Of The Pancreas. To Validate Positive Controls, Samples Were Taken From Patients With Pancreatic Carcinoma During Surgery For Histological And Immunohistochemical Investigations. Results Pancreatic Accumulation Of 99MTc-Il-2 Was Detected In Patients With Autoimmune Diabetes (61% Positive) And, Notably, In 6 Of 9 Patients With Lada; Semiquantita-Tive Evaluation Of Pancreatic Uptake Of 99MTc-Il-2 Showed Higher Values In Patients With Autoimmune Diabetes (Both Childhood And Lada) And Pancreatic Carcinoma Than In Those With Type 2 Diabetes (4.45 ± 1.99, ± 4.79 1.1, And 4.54 ± 1.62 Vs. 2.81 ± 0.63; P = 0.06, P = 0.01, And P = 0.04, Respectively). In Patients With Pancreatic Carcinoma, Pancreatic Interleukin-2 Receptor Expression Correlated With Pancreatic ±Tc-Il-2 Uptake (R = 0.8; P = 0.01). In Patients With Lada, ±Tc-Il-2 Uptake Inversely Correlated With Duration Of Disease (R = 0.7; P = 0.03). Conclusions Autoimmune Diabetes In Adults Is Associated With Increased Pancreatic ±Tc-Il-2 Uptake, Indicating The Presence Of Insulitis, Particularly Within 1 Year Of The Beginning Of Insulin Therapy, Similar To Type 1 Diabetes At Diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that may involve the whole gut. Marked intestinal T cell and macrophage activation is a key feature of the disease. Polymorphonuclear cell infiltration is also observed in the diseased gut, mainly during active inflammation. Scintigraphic detection of granulocytes and activated lymphocytes infiltrating the gut wall may be useful in identifying a subgroup of patients with clinically inactive CD who are undergoing early clinical relapse. The aims of the present study were (a) to compare the effectiveness of scintigraphy with[SUP99m]Tc-labelled in-terleukin-2 ([SUP99m]Tc-IL2) and with[SUP99m]Tc-HMPAO labelled granulocytes ([SUP99m]Tc-WBC) in detecting the presence and extent of bowel inflammation in patients with long-term inactive CD (>12 months) and (b) to assess the accuracy of these techniques in predicting future disease relapse. We studied 29 patients with ileal and/or colonic CD in stable clinical remission (Crohn's Disease Activity Index <150 for at least 12 months) using both [SUP99m]Tc-IL2 and [SUP99m]Tc-WBC scintigraphy in order to evaluate the extent of acute and chronic inflammation in the bowel. Planar and single-photon emission tomography images were acquired in each patient at 1 h p.i. For quantitative analysis of [SUP99m]Tc-IL2 uptake, the abdomen was divided into 32 regions of interest. Despite the absence of symptoms, 18 patients (62%) showed a positive [SUP99m]Tc-IL2 and 18 (62%) a positive [SUP99m]Tc-WBC scan. Only 12 patients (41.4% of the total group) were positive on both scans, and the sites of IL2 and granulocyte bowel uptake were usually located in different segments, indicating that in CD, acute and chronic inflammation can be present in different sites. As far as the prognostic role of the two scans in predicting future disease relapse is concerned, both [SUP99m]Tc-IL2 and [SUP99m]Tc-WBC scintigraphy showed a high negative predictive value (1.00 and 0.91, respectively)... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]