Image Quality and Interpretation of [F]-FES-PET: Is There any Effect of Food Intake?

BACKGROUND

High physiological 16α-[F]-fluoro-17β-estradiol ([F]-FES) uptake in the abdomen is a limitation of this positron emission tomography (PET) tracer. Therefore, we investigated the effect of food intake prior to PET acquisition on abdominal background activity in [F]-FES-PET scans.

METHODS

Breast cancer patients referred for [F]-FES-PET were included. Three groups were designed: (1) patients who consumed a chocolate bar (fatty meal) between tracer injection and imaging ( = 20), (2) patients who fasted before imaging ( = 20), and (3) patients without diet restrictions (control group, = 20). We compared the physiological [F]-FES uptake, expressed as mean standardized uptake value (SUV), in the abdomen between groups.

RESULTS

A significant difference in [F]-FES uptake in the gall bladder and stomach lumen was observed between groups, with the lowest values for the chocolate group and highest for the fasting group ( = 0.015 and = 0.011, respectively). Post hoc analysis showed significant differences in the SUVmean of these organs between the chocolate and fasting groups, but not between the chocolate and control groups.

CONCLUSION

This exploratory study showed that, compared to fasting, eating chocolate decreases physiological gall bladder and stomach [F]-FES uptake; further reduction through a normal diet was not seen. A prospective study is warranted to confirm this finding.