title: The utility of FDG-PET in the diagnosis of thymic epithelial tumors.
abstract: In this article, seven studies evaluating the utility of FDG-PET in the diagnosis of thymic epithelial tumors were reviewed and the results of an investigation conducted in Tokushima University Hospital are reported. FDG accumulation of low-risk thymoma is low, and FDG accumulation of thymic carcinoma is high. High-risk thymoma exhibits various degrees of accumulation and a definite conclusion has not yet been reached; however, overall, the higher the histological grade, the higher the FDG accumulation becomes, suggesting that this is correlated to staging. Our data also support the previous reports. FDG-PET may indicate lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis, which are sometimes difficult to detect using other modalities. When lymph node metastasis and/or distant metastasis are suspected in addition to thymic lesions, FDG-PET/CT, which allows for searching of the entire body at once, is useful. FDG-PET/CT is effective for estimating histopathological malignancy and staging in the diagnosis of thymic epithelial tumors and can be an important imaging test with high relevance to the prognosis of a patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Institute of Health Biosciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Otsuka
mesh_terms: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18