Daunorubicin and doxorubicin inhibit the [11C]choline accumulation in cancer cells

We studied how very short (10–40 min) incubation with anthracycline derivatives modifies the accumulation of PET tumor-diagnostic radiotracers in cancer cells. The human ovarian A2780 and A2780AD, human B lymphoid JY, human epidermoid KB-3-1 and KB-V-1, and smooth muscle DDT1 MF-2 cells were pre-incubated with daunorubicin and doxorubicin, and the uptake of [18F]FDG and [11C]choline was measured. Anthracycline treatment decreased remarkably the [11C]choline accumulation in a concentration dependent manner, while it did not modify significantly the [18F]FDG uptake of the cells.