18F-clofarabine

**18F-clofarabine** is a radiolabeled analog of the nucleoside antimetabolite clofarabine, in which the molecule is tagged with the positron-emitting isotope fluorine-18. It acts as a substrate for deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), an enzyme involved in the deoxyribonucleoside salvage pathway. The compound is primarily used as an investigational PET imaging agent to noninvasively measure dCK activity and pyrimidine metabolism in tumors and other tissues. This can help predict tumor responsiveness to dCK-dependent chemotherapies (such as gemcitabine, cytarabine, and decitabine) or small-molecule dCK inhibitors[1][3][4][5]. Unlike therapeutic doses of clofarabine, 18F-clofarabine is administered at microdose levels for imaging purposes only. It has shown favorable biodistribution and radiation dosimetry profiles in early human studies[4]. Its main clinical research applications are in oncology (for various solid tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma and glioblastoma) and potentially inflammatory brain diseases[3][4][7][10].

Other names

fluorine F 18 clofarabine[18F]CFA