Positron emission tomography (PET) in diagnosing breast cancer

Positron emission tomography (PET) offers new opportunities in the non-inva sive diagnosis and therapy monitoring of breast cancer. So far, PET with th e glucose analogue fluorodeoxyglucose is investigated best, especially in d iagnosing the primary tumour and in staging axillary lymph nodes. The valid ity of the method in staging distant metastases and monitoring therapy is a lso being investigated. At the moment, few data is available on PET with C- 11-methionin as well as on PET with more specific radiopharmaceuticals like I-124-labelled monoclonal antibodies and F-ls-labelled estrogen receptor l igands. This short review presents the state of the art of PET in the diagn ostics and therapy monitoring of breast cancer.