Bone Metastases From Breast or Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial
Official title:
18F- Sodium Fluoride PET Imaging as a Replacement for Bone Scintigraphy
The purpose of this study is to compare, in patients with prostate or breast cancer, the accuracy of 18F-NaF PET imaging to 99mTc whole body bone scans with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).
Technetium-99m (99mTc) is the most widely used radionuclide in diagnostic nuclear medicine
studies. It is used in 20 million diagnostic procedures worldwide annually. It became popular
as a radioisotope because of its easy availability from a 99Molybdenum (99Mo)/99mTc
generator, historic low costs, and previous high availability.
The National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River Laboratories (Ontario, Canada)
was shut down unexpectedly in May 2009 following a leak of heavy water. The NRU reactor
supplied approximately a third of the world's demand of 99Mo for 99Mo/99mTc generators used
diagnostic nuclear medicine tests. Given the fragility of 99Mo supply, alternative
radiopharmaceuticals, such as 18F-Sodium Fluoride (18F-NaF), are attractive options to
replace 99mTc bone scans. Several studies suggest that 18F-NaF may be more accurate and more
sensitive in the detection of bone metastases than 99mTc bone scans.
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