Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

fluorine F 18 fluoroethylcholine

Ethylcholine labeled with fluorine F 18, a positron-emitting isotope. Fluorine F 18 fluoroethylcholine incorporates into tumor cells through an active, carrier-mediated transport mechanism for choline and then is phosphorylated intracellularly by choline kinase, yielding a phosphoryl derivative, and finally is integrated into cellular phospholipids, probably primarily into a phosphatidyl derivative; concentration of this agent in tumor cells as various fluorine F 18 fluoroethylcholine derivatives enables tumor imaging using positron emission tomography (PET). Choline kinase, the enzyme responsible for the phosphorylation of choline, is frequently up-regulated in human tumor cell lines.
Check for active clinical trials using this agentView this agent in the NCI Thesaurus
Abbreviation:18F-ethylcholine
Search NCI's Drug Dictionary
Please enter up to 30 characters for your search