Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Sciacca F, Weerakkody Y, Di Muzio B, et al. Choline C-11. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 18 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-73657
Carbon-11-choline (choline C-11 or 11C-choline) is the most studied isotope carbon-11 PET radiopharmaceutical. The molecule is used for oncologic Imaging 1-4. Choline is one of the components of phosphatidylcholine, a fundamental element of cell membrane phospholipids 5. Cancer cells tend to have a high uptake of the radio-tracer; the increased uptake is presumed to be due to the increase in membrane phosphatidylcholine synthesis (up-regulation of the choline kinase enzyme) 6.
Physical characteristics of carbon-11
- Half-life: 20.38 minutes 7
- Emax (ß+): 961 KeV
- ß+ decay: 100%
Quality controls
If the 11C-choline is employed for brain imaging it is important that there is no 2-dimethylaminoethanol (the precursor used for synthesis) in the injectable solution. 2-dimethylaminoethanol (deanol), in fact, presents to consider with respect to choline a greater affinity for the transport molecules present on the blood-brain barrier 8.
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1. Hara T, Kosaka N, Kishi H. PET imaging of prostate cancer using carbon-11-choline. (1998) Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 39 (6): 990-5. Pubmed
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2. Hara T, Kosaka N, Shinoura N, Kondo T. PET imaging of brain tumor with [methyl-11C]choline. (1997) Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 38 (6): 842-7. Pubmed
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3. Hara T, Inagaki K, Kosaka N, Morita T. Sensitive detection of mediastinal lymph node metastasis of lung cancer with 11C-choline PET. (2000) Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 41 (9): 1507-13. Pubmed
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4. Hara T, Kosaka N, Kondo T, Kishi H, Kobori O. Imaging of brain tumor, lung cancer, esophagus cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer with [C-11]choline. J Nucl Med. 1997; 38 Supp:250P [abstract].
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5. Zeisel SH. Dietary choline: biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology. (1981) Annual review of nutrition. 1: 95-121. doi:10.1146/annurev.nu.01.070181.000523 - Pubmed
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6. Podo F. Tumour phospholipid metabolism. (1999) NMR in biomedicine. 12 (7): 413-39. doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1492(199911)12:7<413::aid-nbm587>3.0.co;2-u - Pubmed
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7. Tu Z, Mach RH. C-11 radiochemistry in cancer imaging applications. (2010) Current topics in medicinal chemistry. 10 (11): 1060-95. doi:10.2174/156802610791384261 - Pubmed
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8. Rosen MA, Jones RM, Yano Y, Budinger TF. Carbon-11 choline: synthesis, purification, and brain uptake inhibition by 2-dimethylaminoethanol. (1985) Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine. 26 (12): 1424-8. Pubmed
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