title: The Evolving Role of Positron Emission Tomography in Patients with Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.
abstract: Medullary thyroid carcinoma is a rare tumor of calcitonin-secreting parafollicular C-cells, and it has a poor prognosis compared with follicular cell-derived tumors. Total thyroidectomy is the treatment of choice, and the prognosis is closely related to the stage of the disease at initial diagnosis. It is important to localize the sites of disease precisely for subsequent surgical intervention; however, measurement of calcitonin levels in the blood provides no information about the location of active disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, GATA Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Selimiye Mah Tibbiye Cad 34668 Uskudar, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: urhanm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Muammer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Urhan
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, 110 Donner Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Abass
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alavi
authors.affiliation: UO Medicina Nucleare, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna Policlinico S.Orsola-Malpighi, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nanni
keywords: F-DOPA; FDG; Medullary thyroid cancer; Positron emission tomography