title: [ (11) C]-methionine positron emission tomography in the postoperative imaging and followup of patients with primary and recurrent gliomas.
abstract: We investigated the sensitivity and specificity of [(11)C]-methionine positron emission tomography ([(11)C]-MET PET) in the management of glioma patients. We retrospectively analysed data from 53 patients with primary gliomas (16 low grade astrocytomas, 15 anaplastic astrocytomas and 22 glioblastomas) and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) > 70. Patients underwent [(11)C]-MET PET scans (N = 249) and parallel contrast-enhanced MRI (N = 193) and/or CT (N = 113) controls. In low grade glioma patients, MRI or CT findings associated with [(11)C]-MET PET additional data allowed discrimination residual disease from postsurgical changes in 96.22% of these cases. [(11)C]-MET PET early allowed detection of malignant progression from low grade to anaplastic astrocytoma with high sensitivity (91.56%) and specificity (95.18%). In anaplastic astrocytomas, we registered high sensitivity (93.97%) and specificity (95.18%) in the postoperative imaging and during the followup of these patients. In GBM patients, CT and/or MRI scans with additional [(11)C]-MET PET data registered a sensitivity of 96.92% in the postsurgical evaluation and in the tumour assessment during temozolomide therapy. A significant correlation was found between [(11)C]-MET mean uptake index and histologic grading (P < 0.001). These findings support the notion that complementary information derived from [(11)C]-MET PET may be helpful in postoperative and successive tumor assessment of glioma patients.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7340-6173
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santoni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Nucleare, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria S. Orsola-Malpighi, 40125 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nanni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4056-0067
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bittoni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Neuroradiologia, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Polonara
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paccapelo
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Neurochirurgia, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trignani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariagrazia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Lisa
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Neurochirurgia, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rychlicki
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Burattini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berardi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Nucleare, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria S. Orsola-Malpighi, 40125 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fanti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Oncologia Medica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, AOU Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cascinu