[Standards, Options and Recommendations 2002 for the use of Positron Emission Tomography with [18F]-FDG (PET-FDG in cancerology (integral connection].
BACKGROUND
The "Standards, Options and Recommendations" (SOR) project, started in 1993, is a collaboration between the Federation of French cancer centers (FNCLCC), the 20 French cancer centers, scientific societies, and specialists from French public universities, general hospitals and private clinics. The main objective is the development of clinical practice guidelines to improve the quality of health care and the outcome of cancer patients. The methodology is based on a literature review and critical appraisal by a multidisciplinary group of experts, with feedback from specialists in cancer care delivery.


OBJECTIVE
To develop clinical practice guidelines for the use of positron emission tomography with [18F]-FDG in oncology according to the definitions of the Standards, Options and Recommendations project.


METHODS
More than 600 articles were identified by searching Medline, web sites, and using the personal reference lists of members of the expert groups. Once the guidelines were defined, the document was submitted for review to independent reviewers (n = 82).


RESULTS
The different steps in patient care are studied in this report: diagnosis of the primary disease, initial and secondary assessment of metastatic extension, evaluation of treatment response and examination for recurrence. The guidelines were developed for each cancer sites: bronchopulmonary and pleural cancers, melanomas, gynaecological cancers, gastrointestinal cancers, head and neck cancers, urological cancers, lymphomas, soft-tissue and bone sarcomas, cancers of the thyroid and carcinomas of unknown primary site. The recommendations were made on the basis of data published up to February 2002. Systematic monitoring of the new scientific data on FDG-PET has been set up by the working group of the FNCLCC, which will ensure dissemination of the updating on its web site: www.fnclcc.fr/sor.htm.
Centre Eugène-Marquis, Rennes
Patrick
P
Bourguet
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000592:standards*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18