The radiofluorination of silicon-rhodamines for bimodal PET and NIR-optical imaging [PET/OI]

Ziel/Aim The combination of non-invasive PET and optical imaging techniques for tumor identification and resection are highly in demand. This strategy is emerging to precisely differentiate between healthy and affected tumor tissues, which is of most relevance for preoperative planning (prestaging) followed by R0-tumor resection via image-guided intraoperative surgery. The goal of this work is the development of radiofluorinated near-infrared (NIR) fluorophores for PET and optical imaging. The fluorophores were prepared via multistep organic synthesis for radiolabeling with fluorine-18 with the aim to elucidate their potential as imaging probes for the detection of tumors. Moreover, the dyes were conjugated to the PSMA-1007 binding motif, as a generic prominent tumor targeting vector for enrichment in prostate tumors ([1]).