title: Diagnosis and monitoring of urological tumors using positron emission tomography.
abstract: The purpose of this article was to critically review the diagnostic value of positron emission tomography (PET) in urological oncology. Urinary tract tumor assessment is hampered by the renal elimination of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the most commonly used PET radiopharmaceutical. PET imaging offers no significant benefits over conventional imaging modalities for renal cell and bladder carcinomas. As a result of the low metabolic activity of prostate cancer, PET does not differentiate adequately between adenoma and carcinoma, nor detect local recurrence after radical prostatectomy with sufficient sensitivity. However, lymph node staging with FDG-PET, specifically in bladder cancer, has been shown to have a potential clinical benefit. Further studies are required to determine the clinical value of retroperitoneal lymph node staging and recurrent disease detection in germ cell tumors. Finally, encouraging early results exist for the use of serial PET measurements to predict and assess therapy response to chemotherapy which may also be valuable in urological oncology.
authors.affiliation: Urologische Klinik und Poliklinik, Technische Universität München, Deutschland. c.hofer@lrz.tu-muenchen.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kübler
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hartung
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Breul
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Avril
mesh_terms: D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018239:Seminoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014565:Urogenital Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18