Carboxyl-labeled 11C-1-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid, a potential agent for cancer detection.

Carboxyl-labeled 11C-1-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid (11C-ACPC) has been prepared in multimillicurie amounts. The conversion of H11CN to 11C-ACPC (t1/2 = 20.4 min) was accomplished by a rapid (20-min) two-step high-temperature modification of the Bücherer-Strecker amino acid synthesis technique, which should be applicable at other accelerator installations. Purification was by ion exchange techniques. Animal studies have indicated that 11C-ACPC is a potential tumor-localizing agent for detecting cancer in humans by nuclear medicine scanning techniques.