Research progress of 18F labeled small molecule positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents

With the development of positron emission tomography (PET) technology, a variety of PET imaging agents labeled with radionuclide 18F have been developed and widely used in the diagnosis and treatment of various clinical diseases in recent years. For example, they have showed a great value of study in the field of tumor detection, tumor treatment and evaluation of tumor therapy in a non-invasive, qualitative and quantitative way. In this review, we highlight the recent development in chemical synthesis, structure and characterization, imaging characterization, and potential applications of these 18F labeled small molecule PET imaging agents for the past five years. The development and application of 18F labeled small molecules will expand our knowledge of the function and distribution of diseases-related molecular targets and shed light on the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases including tumors.