Review of fluorine-18-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in the follow-up of medullary and anaplastic thyroid carcinomas.
BACKGROUND
The goal of posttreatment follow-up for medullary and anaplastic thyroid cancer (MTC and ATC) is the early diagnosis of recurrence or metastases. However, routine follow-up protocols, including physical examination and clinically oriented investigations, are not standardized, and their sensitivity in accurately detecting recurrent or metastatic disease is often suboptimal. A valuable addition to posttreatment follow-up of oncology patients is positron emission tomography using fluorine-18-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG-PET).


METHODS
We review the role of FDG-PET imaging in the follow-up of patients previously treated for MTC and ATC.


RESULTS
Based on the encouraging literature data, FDG-PET appears to be useful in detecting recurrent or metastatic disease in patients with MTC and ATC, providing a higher sensitivity (66% to 100%) and specificity (79% to 90%) than conventional imaging methods. However, the PET technique is limited by less accurate spatial assignment of small lesions, especially in the lung and liver.


CONCLUSIONS
Supporting evidence indicates that FDG-PET has a significant role in the follow-up of patients with MTC and ATC.
Khan
Nasim
N
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Oriuchi
Noboru
N
Higuchi
Tetsuya
T
Endo
Keigo
K
D002277:Carcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018276:Carcinoma, Medullary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18