title: Incidence of increased 68Ga-DOTANOC uptake in the pancreatic head in a large series of extrapancreatic NET patients studied with sequential PET/CT.
abstract: The aim of our retrospective study was to assess the incidence of increased uptake of (68)Ga-DOTANOC in the head of the pancreas among a large population of patients with extrapancreatic neuroendocrine tumors studied with serial (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who had undergone at least two (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT studies over time were included. Uptake in the head of the pancreas was measured and compared with uptake in normal liver parenchyma (target-to-liver ratio). Patients were followed up for 6-24 mo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We reviewed 245 studies performed on 100 patients and classified the pancreatic uptake as either diffuse or focal. Twenty-three patients (66 scans) showed diffuse uptake; 8 patients (16 scans) showed focal uptake. None of these 31 patients had negative findings on their subsequent scans, and vice versa. During follow-up, localization of neuroendocrine tumors in the pancreas was not suspected in any patient.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Focal and diffuse uptake of (68)Ga-DOTANOC in the head of the pancreas occurred, respectively, in 23% and 8% of the patients. The main finding of our study was that increased pancreatic uptake was stable over time.
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Medicine Unit, Hematology-Oncology and Laboratory Medicine Department, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna Policlinico S Orsola-Malpighi, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. paolo.castellucci@aosp.bo.it
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castellucci
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pou Ucha
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fuccio
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rubello
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ambrosini
authors.forename: Gian Carlo
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Montini
authors.forename: Vincenzina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pettinato
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malizia
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lodi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fanti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018358:Neuroendocrine Tumors / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: C504894:68Ga-DOTANOC; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals