[$^{18}F$]Fluorobenzaldehyde, which is a versatile radioactive prosthetic group, can undergo reduction, reductive amination, or oxidation to be used for synthesis of diverse radiotracers. This review covers synthesis of [$^{18}F$]fluorobenzaldehyde and its conversion to secondary prosthetic groups, and also highlights its application to the development of radiotracers.

Carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds have been found ubiquitously in pharmaceuticals, radiopharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and material science due to their unique properties such as thermal and oxidative stability and lipophilicity to improve bioavailability. For the past five years, there have been significant advances in F-18 fluorination of aromatic complex molecules combined with the development of late-stage fluorination reactions. More recently, direct incorporation of F-18 to fluorinated aromatic molecules via borylation of C-F bonds has been developed by Niwa and Hosoya. In this minireview, we will discuss the progress of C-F bondborylation of fluorinated arenes utilizing transition metal catalysts and the impact on the development of F-18 radiotracers for positron emission tomography (PET).

The KOTRON-13 cyclotron was manufactured by Samyoung Unitech as the second generation of the KIRAMS-13 cyclotron after its technology was transferred from the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences in South Korea. Its prototype was installed at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital as part of a distributed network of regional cyclotrons with the support of a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea. However, its initial condition has limited capacity to extract a relatively low beam current and to produce carbon-11. In this review, we provide an introduction and overview of the current state of the KOTRON-13 cyclotron, which was successfully upgraded by carrying out various modifications and optimizing the carbon-11 target system.

The translocator protein (TSPO) is one of the important targets for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging because it is associated with brain cancer, stroke, and neurodegeneration. Recently, a novel quinoline compound with high affinity agent for the translocator protein has been developed. In this highlight review, major studies for the quinoline compound are described.

Good manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulation for diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals was prepared at 2014. The mandatory GMP regulation becomes effective on $1^{st}$, July 2015,with two years of grace periods. Korean radiopharmaceuticals GMP regulation was consisted of quality management, personnel, premise and facility, documentation, production, quality control and self-audit and they have a very similar structure to European Union and PIC/S GMP regulation. Here, we describe detailed description of GMP regulation each part and application to radiopharmaceuticals production. And we also compare Korea, Japan and USA radiopharmaceuticals GMP regulation. GMP is a method to maintain quality of radiopharmaceuticals in daily production and it must be embedded on the manufacturing operation and management.

Human serum albumin (HSA) has potential for diagnosis and therapy in clinical setting. The purpose of experiments was to develop and evaluate $^{68}Ga$-HSA as a PET agent for diagnosis of acute inflammation. NOTA-HSA was synthesized by conjugating 2-(p-isothiocyanatobenzyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triacetic acid to HSA in 0.1 M sodium carbonate buffer (pH 9.5) and then purified using a PD-10 size-exclusion column. NOTA-HSA was labeled with $^{68}Ga$ at room temperature for 10 min, and 8.4% sodium hydrogen carbonate buffer was added for neutralization. $^{68}Ga$-NOTA-HSA was purified using alumina N plus light cartridge and $0.22{\mu}m$ syringe filter. Labeling efficiency and radiochemical purity were determined by ITLC-SG with 0.1 M citric acid. Biodistribution study was performed in a male BALB/c mice model of Carrageenan-induced acute inflammation. Animal PET study was performed in acute inflammation mice model after tail vein injection of $^{68}Ga$-HSA. This radiotracer showed high labeling efficiency (>99%) around pH 7. Biodistribution study showed higher inflamed footpad uptake than control footpad uptake. Animal PET study revealed 2 times higher uptake on inflamed footpad compared to control footpad. In these experiments, we developed $^{68}Ga$-HSA for acute inflammation PET imaging and evaluated it in a mouse disease model. The results demonstrated that $^{68}Ga$-HSA has potential as a PET imaging agent for diagnosis of acute inflammation.

Radiation synovectomy has been proposed as a promising palliative therapy for recurrent joint effusions for the last two or three decades. Ionizing radiations emitted by intrarticularly administered radiolabelled colloids. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of radiation synovectomy (RSV) using $^{188}Re$-tin colloid in the treatment of recurrent joint effusions and chronic synovitis of knee joints. Three phase bone scan was acquired for the concerned joint prior to radiosynovectomy. $^{188}Re$-tin colloid was prepared as per the reported protocol. 9 patients, diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and suffering from chronic resistant synovitis of the knee, ankle or elbow joints were administered the radiopharmaceuticals, checked for radiochemical purity >95% by intraarticular route. A whole body scan was acquired 2 h post-radiosynovectomy. In all the 9 treatments, no leakage to non-target organs was visible in the whole body scan. Static scans of the joint revealed complete retention of $^{188}Re$-tin colloid in the joints post administration of the agent. Clinically all patients exhibited a complete or partial response. RSV with $^{188}Re$-tin colloid was safe and effective in patients with chronic synovitis of rheumatoid origin.

Suicidal gene therapy is based on the transduction of tumor cells with "suicide" genes encoding for prodrug-activating enzymes that render target cells susceptible to prodrug treatment. Suicidal gene therapy results in the death of tumor with the expression of gene encoding enzyme that converts non-toxic prodrug into cytotoxic product. Cytochrome P450 4B1 (CYP4B1) activates 4-ipomeanol (4-IPO) or 2-aminoanthracene (2-AA) to cytotoxic furane epoxide and unsaturated dialdehyde intermediate.In this study, therapeutic effects of suicidal gene therapy with rabbit CYP4B1/2-AA or 4-IPO system were evaluated in HT-29 (human colon cancer cell). pcDNA-CYP4B1 vector was transfected into HT-29 by lipofection and stable transfectant was selected by treatment of hygromycin ($500{\mu}g/mL$) for 3 weeks. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was performed for confirmation of CYP4B1 expression in CYP4B1 gene transduced cell. The cytotoxic effects of CYP4B1 transduced cell were determined using dye-exclusion assay after treatment of 2-AA or 4-IPO for 96 hrs. Dye-exclusion assay showed that $IC_{50}$ of HT-29 and CYP4B1 transduced HT-29 was 0.01 mM and 0.003 mM after 4-IPO or 2-AA treatment at 96 hrs exposure, respectively. In conclusion, CYP4B1 based prodrug gene therapy probably have the potential for treatment of colorectal adenocarcinoma.

$^{64}Cu$-labeled diacetyl-bis($N^4$-methylthiosemicarbazone) is a promising agent for internal radiation therapy and imaging of hypoxic tissues. In the study, we confirmed hypoxia regions in VX2 tumor implanted rabbits with injection $^{64}Cu$-ATSM and $^{18}F$-FDG using positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT). PET images with $^{18}F$-FDG and $^{64}Cu$-ATSM were obtained for 40 min by dynamic scan and additional delayed PET images of $^{64}Cu$-ATSM the acquired up to 48 hours. Correlation between intratumoral $O_2$ level and $^{64}Cu$-ATSM PET image was analyzed. $^{64}Cu$-ATSM and $^{18}F$-FDG were intravenously co-injected and the tumor was dissected and cut into slices for a dual-tracer autoradiographic analysis. In the PET imaging, $^{64}Cu$-ATSM in VX2 tumors displayed a specific uptake in hypoxic region for48 h. The uptake pattern of $^{64}Cu$-ATSM in VX2 tumor at 24 and 48 h did not match to the $^{18}F$-FDG. Through ROI analysis, in the early phase (dynamic scan), $^{18}F$-FDG has positive correlation with $^{64}Cu$-ATSM but late phase (24 and 48 h) of the $^{64}Cu$-ATSM showed negative correlation with $^{18}F$-FDG. High uptake of $^{64}Cu$-ATSM in hypoxic region was responded with significant decrease of oxygen pressure, which confirmed by $^{64}Cu$-ATSM PET imaging and autoradiographic analysis. In conclusion, $^{64}Cu$-ATSM can utilize for specific targeting of hypoxic region in tumor, and discrimination between necrotic- and viable hypoxic tissue.

We evaluate the influence of MR contrast agent on positron emission tomography (PET) image using phantom, animal and human studies. Phantom consisted of 15 solutions with the mixture of various concentrations of Gd-based MR contrast agent and fixed activity of [$^{18}F$]FDG. Animal study was performed using rabbit and two kinds of MR contrast agents. After injecting contrast agent, CT or MRI scanning was performed at 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 minutes. PET image was obtained using clinical PET/CT scan, and attenuation correction was performed using the all CT images. The values of HU, PET activity and MRI intensity were obtained from ROIs in each phantom and organ regions. In clinical study, patients (n=20) with breast cancer underwent sequential acquisitions of early [$^{18}F$]FDG PET/CT, MRI and delayed PET/CT. In phantom study, as the concentration increased, the CT attenuation and PET activity also increased. However, there was no relationship between the PET activity and the concentration in the clinical dose range of contrast agent. In animal study, change of PET activity was not significant at all time point of CT scan both MR contrast agents. There was no significant change of HU between early and delayed CT, except for kidney. Early and delayed SUV in tumor and liver showed significant increase and decrease, respectively (P<0.05). Under the condition of most clinical study (< 0.2 mM), MR contrast agent did not influence on PET image quantitation.

Hypoxia is an important adverse prognostic factor for tumor progression and is a major cause of failure of radiation therapy. In case of short-term hypoxia, the metabolism can recover to normal, but if hypoxia persists, it causes irreversible cell damage and finally leads to death. So a hypoxia marker would be very useful in oncology. In particular, 2-nitroimidazole can be reduced to form a reactive chemical species, which can bind irreversibly to cell components in the absence of sufficient oxygen, thus, the development of radiolabeled nitroimidazole derivatives for the imaging of hypoxia remains an active field of research to improve cancer therapy result. 2-nitroimidazole based hypoxia marker, [$^{18}F$]FMISO holds promise for the evaluation of tumor hypoxia by Positron emission tomography (PET), at both global and local levels. In the present study, [$^{18}F$]FMISO was synthesized using an automatic synthesis module with high radiochemical purity (>99%) in 60 min. Immunohistochemical analysis using pimonidazole confirmed the presence of hypoxia in xenografted CT-26 tumor tissue. A biodistribution study in CT-26 xenografted mice showed that the increased tumor-to-muscle ratio and tumor-to-blood ratios from 10 to 120 min post-injection. In the PET study, [$^{18}F$]FMISO also showed increased tumor-to-muscle ratios from 10 to 120 min post-injection. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the feasibility and utility of [$^{18}F$]FMISO for imaging hypoxiain mouse colon cancer model using small animal PET.