• Yuji Suzuki, Yukihiro Nakamura, Kenichi Yamada, Satoshi Kurabe, Kouichirou Okamoto, Hiroshi Aoki, Hiroki Kitaura, Akiyoshi Kakita, Yukihiko Fujii, Vincent J Huber, Hironaka Igarashi, Ingrid L Kwee, and Tsutomu Nakada.
• Center for Integrated Human Brain Sci-ence, Brain Research Institute, University of Niigata, Niigata, Japan.
• Neurosurgery. 2018 Jun 1; 82 (6): 842-846.

BackgroundAquaporin (AQP) water channels play a significant role in mesenchymal microvascular proliferation and infiltrative growth. AQPs are highly expressed in malignant astrocytomas, and a positive correlation is observed between their expression levels and histological tumor grade.ObjectiveTo examine the utility of aquaporin positron emission tomography (PET) for differentiating between astrocytoma grade III and grade IV using the AQP radioligand [11C]TGN-020.MethodsFifteen astrocytoma patients, grade III (n = 7) and grade IV (n = 8), and 10 healthy volunteers underwent [11C]TGN-020 aquaporin PET imaging. Surgical tissues of astrocytoma patients were examined for histopathological grading using the WHO classification standard and expression of AQP1 and AQP4 immunohistochemically.ResultsMean standardized uptake values of astrocytoma grade III and IV (0.51 ± 0.11 vs 1.50 ± 0.44, respectively) were higher than normal white matter (0.17 ± 0.02, P < .001) for both tumor grades. Importantly, mean standardized uptake values of astrocytoma grade IV were significantly higher than grade III (P < .01).ConclusionOur study demonstrated that [11C]TGN-020 aquaporin PET imaging differentiated between astrocytoma grades III and IV. We suggest its clinical application as a noninvasive diagnostic tool would lead to advancements in the management of these malignant brain tumors.

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