18F-MFBG PET/CT Is an Effective Alternative of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in the Evaluation of Metastatic Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma

PurposeThe current guidelines state that the functional imaging choice in the evaluation of metastatic pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) is Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT. F-18-meta-fluorobenzylguanidine (F-18-MFBG) is a new PET tracer and an analog of meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG). This study aimed to compare F-18-MFBG and Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT in patients with metastatic PPGL.Patients and MethodsTwenty-eight patients with known metastatic PPGL were prospectively recruited for this study. All patients underwent both F-18-MFBG and Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT studies within 1 week. Lesion numbers detected were compared between these 2 studies.Results(18)F-MFBG PET/CT was positive for detecting metastases in all patients, whereas positive results of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT were in 27 (96.4%) patients. A total of 686 foci of metastatic lesions were detected by both F-18-MFBG and Ga-68-DOTATATE imaging. In addition, 33 foci of abnormal activity were only detected by F-18-MFBG, whereas 16 foci were only shown on Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT.ConclusionsOur data suggest that F-18-MFBG PET/CT is an effective imaging method in the evaluation of metastatic PPGL and could be alternative of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT in this clinical setting.

Automated summary

This study compared the use of F-18-MFBG and Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT in patients with metastatic PPGL and found that F-18-MFBG PET/CT was as effective as Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT in detecting metastases.