title: Staging and follow-up of gastrointestinal tumors with PET/CT.
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging modality that has been documented to be useful in patient care. Oncologic PET imaging is used for a wide variety of neoplasms, mainly for staging and follow-up, differentiation of equivocal morphologic findings, therapy stratification, and monitoring. Because PET imaging is based on the physiologically mediated distribution of the administered tracer but not on anatomic information, the addition of computed tomography (CT) to PET may improve the interpretation of PET. Combined PET and CT offers several potential advantages over PET alone that may influence the clinical routine. PET/CT was introduced into clinical use only 3 years ago and has found widespread application within only 1 to 2 years. This article summarizes preliminary data of clinical applications for PET/CT in gastrointestinal tumors.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, University of Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122 Essen, Germany. sandra.rosenbaum@uni-essen.de
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stergar
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antoch
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Veit
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bockisch
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kühl
mesh_terms: D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004067:Digestive System Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004379:Duodenal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D046152:Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018358:Neuroendocrine Tumors / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18