title: [The role of PET scan in gastrointestinal stromal tumors].
abstract: Abdominal CT is considered the imaging method of choice for the staging and treatment monitoring of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST). The role of Whole-body FDG-PET seems limited for staging because of the low rate of extra-abdominal tumoral involvement and lower sensitivity than CT. However, PET provides assessment of therapeutic response to imatinib as early as 8 days after treatment is begun. The decrease in the metabolic tumor activity is often marked and intense and it is easier to evaluate than changes in tumor shrinkage and density measured on CT. PET may also be useful when morphological findings are unclear, treatment efficacy uncertain or when progression is identified on CT scan, especially when these findings do not agree with clinical data. PET and CT are complementary and hybrid PET/CT systems have been shown to be useful in GIST. PET may be proposed for the assessment of treatment response in prospective studies with imatinib or other molecules. In patients with GIST, FDG-PET should be performed based on a pluridisciplinary decision.
authors.affiliation: Service de Médecine Nucléaire; Centre René Huguenin CRLCC, 35 rue Dailly, 92210 Saint-Cloud. alberini@crh1.org
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Alberini
authors.forename: Malik
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al Nakib
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wartski
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gontier
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cvitkovic
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rixe
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rougier
authors.forename: Alain-Paul
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Pecking
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001549:Benzamides; D046152:Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001549:Benzamides; D010879:Piperazines; D011743:Pyrimidines; D000068877:Imatinib Mesylate