Can dedicated breast PET help to reduce overdiagnosis and overtreatment by differentiating between indolent and potentially aggressive ductal carcinoma in situ?

Objectives: To analyze the utility of metabolic imaging, and specifically of dedicated breast positron emission tomography (dbPET) to differentiate between indolent and potentially aggressive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Methods: After institutional review board approval, we retrospectively reviewed the cases of pure DCIS who underwent dbPET before biopsy and surgery in Lucus Augusti Universitary Hospital (Lugo, Spain) and in Fudan Cancer Institute (Shanghai, China) between January 2016 and May 2018. Grade 1 and "non-comedo" grade 2 DCIS were considered low-risk disease, while intermediate-grade with necrosis or grade 3 cases were included in the high-risk group.

Texture analysis of high-resolution dedicated breast F-FDG PET images correlates with immunohistochemical factors and subtype of breast cancer.

Purpose: This study aims to determine whether PET textural features measured with a new dedicated breast PET scanner reflect biological characteristics of breast tumors.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-nine breast tumors from 127 consecutive patients were included in this analysis. All of them underwent a F-FDG PET scan before treatment.

Impact of benzodiazepines on brain FDG-PET quantification after single-dose and chronic administration in rats.

Introduction: Current guidelines for brain PET imaging advice against the injection of diazepam prior to brain FDG-PET examination in order to avoid possible interactions of benzodiazepines with the radiotracer uptake. Nevertheless, many patients undergoing PET studies are likely to be under chronic treatment with benzodiazepines, for example due to the use of different medications such as sleeping pills. Animal studies may provide an extensive and accurate estimation of the effect of benzodiazepines on brain metabolism in a well-defined and controlled framework.

Impact and correction of the bladder uptake on 18 F-FCH PET quantification: a simulation study using the XCAT2 phantom.

The spill-in counts from neighbouring regions can significantly bias the quantification over small regions close to high activity extended sources. This effect can be a drawback for (18)F-based radiotracers positron emission tomography (PET) when quantitatively evaluating the bladder area for diseases such as prostate cancer. In this work, we use Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the impact of the spill-in counts from the bladder on the quantitative evaluation of prostate cancer when using (18)F-Fluorcholine (FCH) PET and we propose a novel reconstruction-based correction method.

Metabolic patterns in prion diseases: an FDG PET voxel-based analysis.

Purpose: Clinical diagnosis of human prion diseases can be challenging since symptoms are common to other disorders associated with rapidly progressive dementia. In this context, (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) might be a useful complementary tool. The aim of this study was to determine the metabolic pattern in human prion diseases, particularly sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and fatal familial insomnia (FFI).

PET optimization for improved assessment and accurate quantification of 90Y-microsphere biodistribution after radioembolization.

Purpose: 90Y-microspheres are widely used for the radioembolization of metastatic liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma and there is a growing interest for imaging 90Y-microspheres with PET. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of a current generation PET/CT scanner for 90Y imaging and to optimize the PET protocol to improve the assessment and the quantification of 90Y-microsphere biodistribution after radioembolization.

Methods: Data were acquired on a Biograph mCT-TrueV scanner with time of flight (TOF) and point spread function (PSF) modeling.

Impact of time-of-flight and point-spread-function in SUV quantification for oncological PET.

Background: Accuracy in the quantification of the SUV is a critical point in PET because proper quantification of tumor uptake is essential for therapy monitoring and prognosis evaluation. Recent advances such as time-of-flight (TOF) and point-spread-function (PSF) reconstructions have dramatically improved detectability. However, first experiences with these techniques have shown a consistent tendency to measure markedly high SUV values, bewildering nuclear medicine physicians and referring clinicians.

PET Tracers for Clinical Imaging of Breast Cancer.

Molecular imaging of breast cancer has undoubtedly permitted a substantial development of the overall diagnostic accuracy of this malignancy in the last years. Accurate tumour staging, design of individually suited therapies, response evaluation, early detection of recurrence and distant lesions have also evolved in parallel with the development of novel molecular imaging approaches. In this context, positron emission tomography (PET) can be probably seen as the most interesting molecular imaging technology with straightforward clinical application for such purposes.

Voxel-based analysis of dual-time-point 18F-FDG PET images for brain tumor identification and delineation.

Unlabelled: We have investigated dual-time-point (18)F-FDG PET for the detection and delineation of high-grade brain tumors using quantitative criteria applied on a voxel basis.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with suspected high-grade brain tumors and inconclusive MRI findings underwent (11)C-methionine PET and dual-time-point (18)F-FDG PET. Images from each subject were registered and spatially normalized.