title: The role of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the diagnosis, staging, and follow-up of cholangiocarcinoma.
abstract: (18)F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)FDG-PET) is a new diagnostic technique for the diagnosis and staging of cholangiocarcinoma. For diagnosis of a primary cholangiocarcinoma, (18)FDG-PET seems to be helpful to discriminate between malignant and benign lesions. However, the accuracy of (18)FDG-PET seems to be dependent on the anatomic location, growth pattern, and pathologic characteristics of the lesion. It has been proved that the accuracy of (18)FDG-PET is limited to detection of extrahepatic, infiltrating, and mucinous cholangiocarcinomas. Due to its lower sensitivity, (18)FDG-PET provides complementary rather than confirmative information in the diagnosis of regional lymph node metastasis. In contrast, it has high accuracy in detecting unsuspected distant metastases. The role of (18)FDG-PET in detecting cancer recurrence, monitoring treatment response, and predicting prognosis is still controversial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Mo
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Seungmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Jae Bock
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D011379:Prognosis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18