Role of PET/CT in the evaluation of cervical cancer.
PET imaging utilizes a dedicated camera system with multiple positron detector rings. PET/CT precisely aligns and combines metabolic PET mages with anatomical CT images, and is being increasingly preffered over PET scanning alone. FDG is the most widely used radiotracer in the management of cancer patients, and the prototypical PET/CT protocol used in other cancers can also be applied to the management of cervical carcinoma patients. The applications of PET/CT in cervical cancer patients include: assessing local tumor extension (information on metabolic tumor activity and possible endometrial involvement), evaluating pelvic nodal involvement (even in cases with negative CT or MRI studies), detection of distant metastases (PET/CT should be the first imaging technique used to evaluate extrapelvic disease before pelvic exenteration), radiation therapy planning (in patiens with PET scans positive for lymph nodes), identification of persistent/recurrent disease (especially in assessing response to neoadjuvant therapy and prognosis (with an inverse response-survival relationship.
Jover
Raquel
R
Instituto Tecnológico PET-M.D. Anderson International España, Madrid, Spain. jover_raq@yahoo.es
Lourido
Daniel
D
Gonzalez
Cristina
C
Rojo
Alejandro
A
Gorospe
Luis
L
Alfonso
José Miguel
JM
D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18