Current status of positron emission tomography in oncology

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) has emerged as a powerful diagnostic tool in oncology patients. There is evidence of the superior utility over conventional imaging methods of the principal PET tracer 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose in the staging of a range of cancers and monitoring disease recurrence, as well as changing patient management to more appropriate therapy. The methods for evaluating the evidence for PET remain complex, particularly as the standard evidence-based approach of randomized controlled trials is not generally applicable to imaging technologies. PET has the potential to dramatically improve our ability to manage patients with cancer and is also making major contributions to the development of new therapies.

Meta-analysis of the diagnostic performance of [18F]FDG-PET and PET/CT in renal cell carcinoma

“…Due to its high metastatic potential, accurate staging is important to determine the appropriate treatment for a patient [ 1 ] . Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) is widely applied in detecting malignancy and predicting the prognosis, as well as in staging/restaging, and in therapeutic decision-making and monitoring of tumors [ 2 , 3 ] . However, the application of FDG-PET in the urinary tract is relatively limited because this tract is the major excretion route for FDG, which may mean that background activity obscures the presence of lesions.…”

18F-FDG PET-CT in evaluation of postoperative colorectal cancer patients with rising CEA level

“…F-18 fludeoxyglucose (FDG) PET has been shown to be highly accurate in the detection of recurrent and metastatic CRC. Several reports also indicate that PET can influence the management of patients with metastatic CRC [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Prognostic Value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

“…Determination of nodal disease is similar between both modalities at approximately 50% [5]. 18 F-2-fluoro-deoxy-glucose ( 18 F-FDG) PET has been widely utilized to stage and diagnose cancer [6]. In mesothelioma, 18 F-FDG PET has been evaluated predominantly in diagnosis [7] and preoperative staging [8][9][10].…”