European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging
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Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging · Jan 2011
Is there a role for ¹¹C-choline PET/CT in the early detection of metastatic disease in surgically treated prostate cancer patients with a mild PSA increase <1.5 ng/ml?
The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of whole-body (11)C-choline PET/CT in the re-staging of prostate cancer (PC) patients previously treated with radical prostatectomy (RP), who presented a mild increase of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) <1.5 ng/ml (early biochemical relapse) during follow-up (FU). ⋯ In our study, (11)C-choline PET/CT was able to detect recurrent disease in 28% of the patients with mild biochemical relapse characterized by very low trigger PSA levels (PSA <1.5 ng/ml). Very interestingly (11)C-choline PET/CT detected distant unexpected metastases in 21% of the patients. At multivariate statistical analysis only PSAdt and node status were shown to be significant and independent predictive factors for positive (11)C-choline PET/CT. Therefore, (11)C-choline could be suggested to be performed early during initial biochemical relapse in patients presenting with fast PSA kinetics. The early detection of the site of recurrence could lead to a prompt instauration of the most appropriate treatment, i.e. local surgery or radiation treatment vs systemic treatment. In this view, one of the main advantages should be the avoidance of unnecessary local radiotherapy in those patients showing distant metastasis at (11)C-choline PET/CT.
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Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging · Jan 2011
The role of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in the assessment of suspected recurrent gastric cancer after initial surgical resection: can the results of FDG PET/CT influence patients' treatment decision making?
(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT has been widely used for staging, re-staging and for monitoring therapy-induced changes and response to therapy in patients with various types of cancer, but its utilization for gastric cancer has been limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical role of FDG PET/CT in the detection of gastric cancer recurrence as compared with diagnostic CT and to assess the impact of FDG PET/CT results on patients' treatment planning. ⋯ FDG PET/CT is a superior post-therapy surveillance modality for the diagnosis of recurrent gastric cancer compared with diagnostic CT imaging after initial surgery. In addition, integrated FDG PET/CT was specifically helpful in optimizing the treatment plan and it might play an important role in treatment stratification in the future.
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Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging · Dec 2010
18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and computed tomography in anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Our aim was to evaluate in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) patients the value of 18F-FDG PET/CT compared with total body computed tomography (CT) using intravenous contrast material for initial staging, prognostic assessment, therapeutic monitoring and follow-up. ⋯ FDG PET/CT appears to be the reference imaging modality for ATC at initial staging and seems promising in the early evaluation of treatment response and follow-up.
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Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging · Oct 2010
Comparative Study Clinical TrialAssessment of histological response of paediatric bone sarcomas using FDG PET in comparison to morphological volume measurement and standardized MRI parameters.
The objective of this study was to evaluate positron emission tomography (PET) using (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) in comparison to volumetry and standardized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters for the assessment of histological response in paediatric bone sarcoma patients. ⋯ FDG PET appears to be a useful tool for non-invasive response assessment in the group of OS patients and is superior to MRI. In EWS patients, however, neither FDG PET nor volumetry or standardized MRI criteria enabled a reliable response assessment to be made after neoadjuvant treatment.
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Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging · Jul 2010
Comparative Study Clinical Trial18F-FDG versus 11C-choline PET/CT for the imaging of advanced head and neck cancer after combined intra-arterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy: the time period during which PET/CT can reliably detect non-recurrence.
The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the usefulness of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and (11)C-choline positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for detecting recurrences of advanced head and neck cancer after combined intra-arterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Additionally, we surveyed the time period during which an effective negative predictive value could be maintained after the first follow-up PET/CT examination and estimated the optimal timing of a second PET/CT examination for detecting late recurrences. ⋯ (11)C-choline was not superior to (18)F-FDG for the detection of recurrent head and neck cancer. Both modalities had difficulty identifying recurrences at 4-9 months after the post-treatment PET/CT examination. In patients with advanced head and neck cancer who have received combined therapy, a second post-treatment PET/CT examination to check for late recurrences should be performed within 4-6 months after the first post-treatment PET/CT examination.