F-Labeled Somatostatin Analogs as PET Tracers for the Somatostatin Receptor: Ready for Clinical Use.

Molecular imaging of the somatostatin receptor plays a key role in the clinical management of neuroendocrine tumors. PET imaging with somatostatin analogs (SSAs) labeled with Ga or Cu is currently the gold standard in clinical practice. However, widespread implementation of Ga imaging is often hampered by practical and economic issues related to Ge/Ga generators. F offers several advantages to tackle these issues. Recent developments in radiochemistry have allowed a shift from Ga toward F labeling, leading to promising clinical translations of F-labeled SSAs, such as Gluc-Lys-[F]FP-TOCA, [F]F-FET-βAG-TOCA, [F]AlF-NOTA-octreotide, [F]SiTATE, and [F]AlF-NOTA-JR11. This review gives an update of currently available clinical data regarding F-labeled SSA tracers and provides justification for the clinical application of this class of tracers.