Hypoxia Positron Emission Tomography Imaging With 18F-Fluoromisonidazole

The importance of hypoxia in disease pathogenesis and prognosis is gathering increasing clinical significance and having a greater impact on patient management and outcome. Previous efforts to evaluate hypoxia have included the invasive assessment of hypoxia with immunohistologic and histographic oxygen probes. The emergence of new radiotracers has allowed noninvasive assessment of hypoxia, with the most extensively investigated and validated positron emission tomography radiotracer of hypoxia to date being 18F-fluoromisonodazole (18F-FMISO). This review discusses the relevance and biology of hypoxia in cells and organ systems, and reviews the laboratory and clinical applications of 18F-FMISO in oncology and noncancer disease states.