Pharmacokinetics of the thymidine analog 2'-fluoro-5-[(14)C]-methyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyluracil ([(14)C]FMAU) in rat prostate tumor cells.

2'-Fluoro-5-[(14)C]-methyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyluracil (FMAU) is an analog of thymidine (TdR) that is resistant to catabolism, is incorporated into DNA, and has been labeled with (11)C for use with positron emission tomography. We compared the uptake and metabolism of [(14)C]FMAU with that of [(3)H]TdR in fast- and slow-growing cell lines of a rat prostate tumor. Although FMAU was incorporated much less rapidly than TdR, FMAU behaved very similarly to TdR with respect to correlation between uptake velocity and cell growth rate, saturability of cellular incorporation, and intracellular metabolite pools. Thus, FMAU warrants further evaluation as an in vivo indicator of tumor cell division.