title: 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.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Nasim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oriuchi
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Endo
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18