Glucose Metabolism of Human Prostate Cancer Mouse Xenografts

We hypothesized that the glucose metabolism of prostate cancer is modulated by androgen. We performed in vivo biodistribution and imaging studies of [F-18] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) accumulation in androgen-sensitive (CWR-22) and androgen-independent (PC-3) human prostate cancer xenografts implanted in castrated and noncastrated male athymic mice. The growth pattern of the CWR-22 tumor was best approximated by an exponential function (tumor size in mm3 = 14.913 e0.1086 Â days, R2 = .96, n = 5). The growth pattern of the PC-3 tumor was best approximated by a quadratic function (tumor size in mm3 = 0.3511 Â days2 + 49.418 Â day À 753.33, R2 = .96, n = 3). The FDG accumulation in the CWR-22 tumor implanted in the castrated mice was significantly lower, by an average of 55%, in comparison to that implanted in the noncastrated host (1.27 vs. 2.83, respectively, p