title: PET/CT evaluation of cervical cancer: spectrum of disease.
abstract: The prognosis of invasive cervical cancer is based on the stage, size, and histologic grade of the primary tumor and the status of the lymph nodes. Assessment of disease stage is essential in determining proper management in individual cases. In the posttherapy setting, the timely detection of recurrence is essential for guiding management and may lead to increased survival. However, the official clinical staging system of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics has inherent flaws that may lead to inaccurate staging and improper management. Combined positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) represents a major technologic advance, consisting of two integrated complementary modalities whose combined strength tends to overcome their respective weaknesses. PET/CT has higher sensitivity and specificity than do conventional anatomic modalities and is valuable in determining the extent of disease and detecting recurrent or residual tumor. The combination of 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose PET with intravenous contrast material-enhanced high-resolution CT has proved useful for avoiding the interpretative weaknesses associated with either modality alone and in increasing the accuracy of staging or restaging. Nonetheless, accurate PET/CT interpretation requires a knowledge of the characteristics of disease spread or recurrence and an awareness of various imaging pitfalls if false interpretations are to be avoided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Hongju
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Arpakorn
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kositwattanarerk
authors.forename: Monica P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Linus
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rahaman
authors.forename: Sherif
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heiba
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Machac
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zakashansky
authors.forename: Lale
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kostakoglu
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D038622:Internationality; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18