title: PET and PET/CT for Pancreatic Malignancies.
abstract: FDG PET imaging is useful for preoperative diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma in patients with suspected pancreatic cancer in whom CT fails to identify a discrete tumor mass or in whom FNAs are nondiagnostic. FDG PET imaging is useful for M staging and restaging by detecting CT occult metastatic disease, allowing noncurative resection to be avoided in this group of patients. FDG PET can differentiate post-therapy changes from recurrence and holds promise for monitoring neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy. The technique is less useful in periampullary carcinoma and marginally helpful in staging except for M staging. As with other malignancies, FDG PET is complementary to morphologic imaging with CT, therefore, integrated PET/CT imaging provides optimal images for interpretation and thus more optimal patient care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 21st Avenue South and Garland, Nashville, TN 37232-2675, USA. Electronic address: Dominique.delbeke@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delbeke
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 21st Avenue South and Garland, Nashville, TN 37232-2675, USA.
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Martin
keywords: Cystic pancreatic lesions; FDG PET; Pancreatic carcinoma