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A hot take on glucose

Nature Chemistry volume 14, page 476 (2022)Cite this article

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Christine M. Le takes a look at 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose and explains how this radioactive sugar could help to save your life.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is one of the most common medical imaging techniques used for both pre-clinical and clinical purposes. PET imaging relies on injecting a small amount of a radioactive compound or ‘radiotracer’ into the patient. By measuring the radioactive decay of the tracer in the body, its distribution, uptake and metabolism can be visualized in real time. The most widely used radiotracer in oncology is a glucose analogue called 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (often shortened to [18F]FDG), where the hydroxyl group at the C2 position has been replaced with a radioactive isotope of fluorine,18F (pictured).

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  1. Twitter: Christine M. Le

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  1. Department of Chemistry, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Christine M. Le

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  1. Christine M. Le
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Correspondence to Christine M. Le.

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Le, C.M. A hot take on glucose. Nat. Chem. 14, 476 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-00920-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-00920-5

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