Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer, with the highest rates of metastasis and mortality. The incidence of metastatic melanoma has increased over the past 3 decades, with a mortality rate that continues to rise more quickly than that of most other cancers. N-(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)-5-[¹⁸F]fluoropicolinamide ([¹⁸F]DMPY2) is ¹⁸F-labeled pyridine-based benzamide derivative with a dimethylamine residue. The skeleton structure (benzamide) has a selective affinity for the pigment melanin, which is an irregular polymer produced by melanocytes. [¹⁸F]DMPY2 showed excellent performance in detecting melanoma. The specific/rapid targeting, prolonged retention, and rapid clearance of [¹⁸F]DMPY2 in primary and metastatic tumors suggest that this radiotracer could be used as a PET imaging agent to obtain outstanding image quality in the diagnosis of melanoma.

Representative MicroPET images of [¹⁸F]DMPY2 in B16F10

(A) Tumor xenograft models.

(B) Lung metastasis mouse models.

(C) Lymph node metastasis mouse models.

(D) Coronal images of B16F10 bearing mice models at 60 min post-injection of [¹⁸F]DMPY2 (left) and [¹⁸F]FDG (right).