PET imaging with FDG is having a "great impact" in determining the extent of spread of cancers of the reproductive system, especially when doctors get ambiguous results from other conventional imaging tests such as ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT), said Neeta Pandit-Taskar, M.D., a nuclear medicine physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. While a woman's reproductive organs are the potential source of life, they can be the starting point of deadly disease in which abnormal body cells grow and spread. Reports indicate that 80,000 women in the United States--or 10 women an hour--are diagnosed with a cancer of the reproductive organs.
Pandit-Taskar's JNM article reviews the role of PET imaging with FDG in current clinical practice, highlighting, for example, the imaging technique's high sensitivity in detecting nodal disease in cervical cancer. PET imaging with FDG "can detect tumor involvement in lymph nodes before they grow bigger and can be detected with other imaging methods. PET is particularly useful in identifying disease in patients in whom anatomy is altered because of surgery or radiation," she said. The imaging technique evaluates the whole body in a single exam, giving doctors a larger scanning area to examine possible metastases (spread) or tumor cells that have broken away from a primary tumor and have traveled to other parts of the body, said the author of "Oncologic Imaging in Gynecologic Malignancies."
Oncologists may not yet be convinced of PET's imaging capabilities, though a number of studies have shown its usefulness, said Pandit-Taskar. Some studies have also shown that PET imaging with FDG is "superior" to CT or MRI in detecting recurrent ovarian cancer. PET's detection abilities may continue to increase with the advance of newer cameras that have better resolution, she added. PET may also help to stratify--or separate a patient population into subgroups--for therapy.
PET already plays an integral role in managing lymphoma, colorectal and lung cancers and is developing as a major tool in managing other cancers as well, said Pandit-Taskar, a member of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, an international scientific and research association that publishes JNM. Perfecting this tool could improve the treatment and health of patients, said Pandit-Taskar, who researches the role of PET imaging and the development of new diagnostic methods that use radiolabelled antibodies to detect cancers.
Without ever cutting into the skin, PET's biological imaging allows physicians to diagnose, treat and follow patients. PET is a powerful medical imaging procedure that noninvasively demonstrates the function of organs and other tissues. When PET is used to image cancer, a radiopharmaceutical (such as FDG, which includes both a sugar and a radionuclide) is injected into a patient. Cancer cells metabolize sugar at higher rates than normal cells, and the radiopharmaceutical is drawn in higher concentrations to cancerous areas. PET scans show where FDG is by tracking gamma signals given off by the drug.
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About the Society of Nuclear Medicine
The Society of Nuclear Medicine is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances; provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed resource in the field of nuclear and molecular imaging: The Journal of Nuclear Medicine; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and host the premiere nuclear medicine annual meeting. SNM members have developed--and continue to explore--biological and technological innovations in medicine to look noninvasively into the molecular basis of diseases to benefit countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at http://www.snm.org.
Journal
Journal of Nuclear Medicine