Modern diagnostic and therapeutic interventional radiology in lung cancer.

Imaging has an important role in the multidisciplinary management of primary lung cancer. This article reviews the current state-of-the-art imaging modalities used for the evaluation, staging and post-treatment follow-up and surveillance of lung cancers, and image-guided percutaneous techniques for biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and for local therapy in non-surgical candidates.

18F-flumazenil: a γ-aminobutyric acid A-specific PET radiotracer for the localization of drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy.

Unlabelled: Studies report that (11)C-flumazenil (FMZ) PET more specifically localizes the epileptogenic zone in patients with medically refractory focal epilepsy than (18)F-FDG PET. However, practical aspects of (11)C use limit clinical application. We report a phase I/IIa study assessing the clinical use of (18)F-FMZ PET for the localization of the epileptogenic zone in patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

Comparative PET study using F-18 FET and F-18 FDG for the evaluation of patients with suspected brain tumour.

The aim of this prospective pilot study in patients with suspected or known brain tumour was to establish the diagnostic value of O-(2-[(18)F]-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (FET) positron emission tomography (PET) when compared to fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET. Twenty-five FET PET and FDG PET scans were performed on 21 consecutive patients within 24 months. Final malignant pathology included 11 glioma (eight low-grade, three high grade), two lymphoma, one olfactory ganglioneuroblastoma, one anaplastic meningioma.

PET/MRI: a different spin from under the rim.

Introduction: Hybrid imaging is now widely accepted in cancer imaging with increasing use of PET/CT in clinical practice. The advantages of MRI compared to CT with respect to radiation exposure and soft-tissue lesion contrast, as well as the possibility of performing more sophisticated assessment of tissue chemistry, have stimulated interest in the development of hybrid PET/MR imaging systems.

Objective: While PET/CT simultaneously increases diagnostic quality and patient throughput compared to PET, offsetting the higher cost of this instrumentation, PET/MRI will likely be more expensive again and is currently unlikely to be competitive in terms of throughput.

Abdominal manifestations of extranodal lymphoma: spectrum of imaging findings.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to illustrate the spectrum of appearances of extranodal lymphoma in the abdomen using cross-sectional imaging techniques.

Conclusion: Extranodal lymphoma in the abdomen can mimic other neoplastic or inflammatory conditions. Although a definitive diagnosis is possible only with biopsy, it is important to consider extranodal lymphoma in the presence of certain imaging appearances in the appropriate clinical setting for the correct diagnosis, accurate staging, and optimal management.

Atypical brown fat distribution in young males demonstrated on PET/CT.

The development of PET/CT has led to the recognition that metabolically active fat, referred to as "brown fat," can accumulate FDG and represents a possible source of false-positive scans in oncology patients. Numerous reports have described the typical appearance of brown fat, which most commonly presents as neck and paravertebral uptake in young female patients. Other described sites of uptake include the mediastinum and retroperitoneum.

[Clinical application of (18)F-FDG PET/CT to staging and treatment effectiveness monitoring of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Background & Objective: Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) PET/CT could increase the accuracy of diagnosis, staging, and treatment effectiveness monitoring of many malignant diseases, such as lung cancer and esophageal cancer. This study was to evaluate the clinical application of (18)F-FDG PET/CT to the staging, restaging, and treatment effectiveness monitoring of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods: The reports of whole body (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans, performed from Feb.

How do oncologists deal with incidental abnormalities on whole-body fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT?

Background: Combined positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) using fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is an exciting technique for cancer evaluation, but false-positive results are a recognized limitation. The aim of the study was to evaluate how oncologists deal with focal extrathyroidal FDG abnormalities considered by imaging specialists to be unrelated to the referral indication.

Methods: PET scan reports from a 12-month period from August 2002 to July 2003 in 1727 consecutive patients (mean age, 63 years) were reviewed.

PET/CT: will it change the way that we use CT in cancer imaging?

Accurate staging of cancer is of fundamental importance to treatment selection and planning. Current staging paradigms focus, first, on a detailed delineation of the primary tumour in order to determine its suitability for resection, and, thereafter, on assessment of the presence of metastatic spread that would alter the surgical approach, or mandate non-surgical therapies. This approach has, at its core, the assumption that the best, and sometimes the only, way to cure a patient of cancer is by surgical resection.

A prospective study to evaluate the impact of FDG-PET on CT-based radiotherapy treatment planning for oesophageal cancer.

Background And Purpose: This prospective study sought to determine how the use of combined PET/CT for radiotherapy treatment planning of oesophageal cancer would alter the delineation of tumour volumes compared to CT alone if PET/CT is assumed to more accurately represent true disease extent.

Patients And Methods: All patients underwent FDG-PET/CT scanning in the radiotherapy treatment position. For each patient, two separate gross tumour volumes (GTV) were defined, one based on CT images alone (GTV-CT) and another based on combined PET/CT data (GTV-PET).