POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY - ROLE OF F- 18 FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE ((18)FDG) IMAGING IN ONCOLOGY

Positron emission tomography: role of F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)FDG ) imaging in oncology. There is a renewed interest in positron emissio n tomography (PET) using (18)fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)FDG) since the de velopment of large field of view cameras and the capability of regiona l distribution of (18)FDG. This method may help solve three types of p roblems in clinical oncology: tumor diagnosis and extension assessment , prediction of treatment response and follow-up (diagnosis of recurre nces and complications). The aim of this paper is to review the litera ture in this field. This technique is mostly used for brain, lung, rec tal and breast tumors as well as for sarcomas. It is possible to diagn ose an anaplastic transformation of a low grade glioma since (18)FDG u ptake correlates with the histological grade. (18)FDG plays another im portant role in the evaluation of the brain tumor response to treatmen t and of the secondary effects or sequelae of this treatment This tech nique is also useful in breast carcinomas: diagnosis in the case of a dense breast, detection of lymph nodes or other metastases which could modify the strategy. One of the most established roles of (18)FDG PET is the diagnosis of rectal tumor recurrences. Furthermore, future res ults will probably confirm its usefulness in lung carcinoma, for the d iagnosis and for treatment evaluation. Lastly, it plays an important r ole in soft tissue sarcomas at all stages of diagnosis and treatment. The results of the literature still have to be completed. However, if the capability ofpredicting tumor response to treatment is confirmed t his method will play an important role in patient management and will modify treatment strategies.