[The role of positron emission tomography (PET) in tumor diagnostics and therapy monitoring].

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a medical imaging method belonging to the realm of nuclear medicine. It has been a clinical research tool since the sixties but during the late nineties it became widely utilized in clinical practice too. PET technique requires special radioactive isotopes, which may be generated only in particle accelerators (cyclotrons) and their transport is limited owing to the short physical half-life.

[The role of FDG-PET-CT in the evaluation of primary systemic therapy in breast cancer: links between metabolic and pathological remission].

Introduction: FDG-PET-CT is highly sensitive in detection of viable tumour tissue, giving an importance for that in oncological diagnostics.

Aim: The authors analysed retrospectively the relationship between metabolic response and changes in Ki-67, a proliferation marker.

Methods: Staging FDG-PET-CT scans (before and after therapy) SUVs (Standardized Uptake Value), and morphological changes in the primary tumour and axillary lymph node region were evaluated in 30 patients with breast cancer.