¹⁸F-Labeled Radiotracers for Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen Historical Perspective and Future Directions

Much of the modern growth in nuclear medicine has been driven by PET imaging of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) in men with prostate cancer. Fluorine-18 is the ideal PET radionuclide with a moderately long half-life, high positron yield, low positron energy, and cyclotron-based production. 18F-DCFPyL is the first Food and Drug Administration-approved compound in this class. In this review, we cover a number of aspects of radiofluorinated PSMA PET agents, including their historical development, the early clinical trials, key multicenter registration trials, emerging clinical agents, new compounds that are entering human use, and future directions for the field.