Detection of isolated distant metastasis in soft tissue sarcoma by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography: Case report

Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), labeled with F-18, is a glucose analog that accum ulates in cells in proportion to the rate of glucose metabolism and increas ed carbohydrate metabolism has been recognized as a feature of malignant ce lls versus normal cells. lit addition, it permits the detection of metastas es not discovered by bone scan. Although detection of the primary site of d isease is usually accomplished well with conventional techniques, the perfo rmance of FDG positron emission tomagraphy (PET) may be useful to determine metastases that are not clinically evident. The authors describe a case of early detection of distant metastases by FDG-PET in a young patient diagno sed with rhabdomyosarcoma of the hand.