Imaging c-Met expression using 18F-labeled binding peptide in human cancer xenografts

Abstract

C-Met is a receptor tyrosine kinase shown inappropriate expression and actively involved in progression and metastasis in most types of human cancer. Development of c-Met-targeted imaging and therapeutic agents would be extremely useful. Previous studies reported that c-Met-binding peptide (Met-pep1, YLFSVHWPPLKA) specifically targets c-Met receptor. Here, we evaluated 18F-labeled Met-pep1 for PET imaging of c-Met positive tumor in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) xenografted mice.