The Diagnostic Potential of Radiolabelled Neurotensin in PET Imaging of Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: Results from In Vivo, Animal And Human Studies

In nuclear medicine, multiple peptide receptors are recognized as potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets. 68Ga-NT-20.3 radiopharmaceutical has been developed for diagnosis of neurotensin receptors. Three neurotensin receptors subtypes have been cloned: NTR-1, NTR-2 and NTR-3. NTR-1 is the most commonly expressed neurotensin receptor. High NTR-1 expression has been observed in various tumours including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. 68Ga-labelled NT ligand was successfully applied in in vitro, animal model as well as in human. The results on humans demonstrated that PET radiopharmaceutical 68Ga-NT-20.3 is safe and well tolerated. Based on the published data, NTR-1 is promising target for the development of radioactive analogues for both imaging and therapy in patients with primary and metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.