title: PET and PET/CT using 18F-FDG in the diagnosis and management of cancer patients.
abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) using 2-(18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG), a radioactive derivative of glucose, is an advanced imaging tool, based on the increased glucose consumption of cancer cells. FDG-PET provides information that is not obtainable with other imaging modalities, and is very effective in the diagnosis and management of patients with various types of cancers. However, there are some limitations, such as low FDG uptake in some cancers, substantial FDG uptake in inflammatory cells, and the lack of anatomical information and poor imaging quality of PET. A recently developed integrated PET/computed tomography (CT) system, which combines a PET camera and CT scanner in a single session, has overcome these drawbacks by providing both anatomical and functional imaging at the same position. PET and/or PET/CT using FDG is clinically useful in the detection of cancer, the differentiation of malignant and benign lesions, the staging of cancer before therapy, and the assessment of cancer therapy, as well as for determining the recurrence after therapy of most cancers, including lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, and malignant lymphoma. PET/CT has become the new standard approach to imaging in the diagnosis and management of many cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi 371-8511, Japan. endo@med.gunma-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Oriuchi
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hanaoka
authors.forename: Mitsuyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyakubo
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishikita
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18