Diagnosis in medullary thyroid cancer with [18F]FDG-PET and improvement using a combined PET/CT scanner.
Today, positron emission tomography (PET) investigation using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is the most sensitive and specific single modality established for localizing metastases of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Even at calcitonin serum levels below 20 pg/ml, tumour localization may be successful in individual cases. However, especially in such early tumour stages, the morphological correlation using PET is unsatisfactory. With the newly available fixed combination of PET and computed tomography (PET/CT), this drawback can be overcome as PET/CT allows a point-by-point correlation of pathological function with morphological structure. Conventional PET alone yielded an approx 80 % sensitivity and specificity in MTC: a result that will be surpassed by the combined PET/CT scanner.
Bockisch
A
A
Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Essen, Germany. andreas.bockisch@uni-essen.de
Brandt-Mainz
Katja
K
Görges
R
R
Müller
St
S
Stattaus
J
J
Antoch
G
G
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18