title: SPECT and PET serve as molecular imaging techniques and in vivo biomarkers for brain metastases.
abstract: Nuclear medicine techniques (single photon emission computerized tomography, SPECT, and positron emission tomography, PET) represent molecular imaging tools, able to provide in vivo biomarkers of different diseases. To investigate brain tumours and metastases many different radiopharmaceuticals imaged by SPECT and PET can be used. In this review the main and most promising radiopharmaceuticals available to detect brain metastases are reported. Furthermore the diagnostic contribution of the combination of SPECT and PET data with radiological findings (magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Section of Nuclear Medicine and Health Physics, Department of Surgical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia 06100, Italy. barbara.palumbo@unipg.it.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.affiliation: Section of Nuclear Medicine and Health Physics, Department of Surgical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia 06100, Italy. tommaso.buresta@libero.it.
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buresta
authors.affiliation: Section of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy. susannanuvoli@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nuvoli
authors.affiliation: Section of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy. angela.spanu@email.it.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spanu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Roma 00133, Italy. orazio.schillaci@uniroma2.it.
authors.forename: Orazio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schillaci
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Perugia 06100, Italy. mario.fravolini@unipg.it.
authors.forename: Mario Luca
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fravolini
authors.affiliation: Section of Radiotherapy Department of Surgical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia 06100, Italy. isabella.palumbo@unipg.it.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Palumbo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals