Recent Advances in Nuclear Imaging of Receptor Expression to Guide Targeted Therapies in Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer remains the most frequent cancer in women with different patterns of disease progression and response to treatments. The identification of specific biomarkers for different breast cancer subtypes has allowed the development of novel targeting agents for imaging and therapy. To date, patient management depends on immunohistochemistry analysis of receptor status on bioptic samples.

2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in primary extranodal lymphomas: treatment response evaluation and prognosis.

Background: We evaluated the role of [18F]FDG PET/CT in tumor response assessment and prognosis of primary extranodal lymphoma (PEL) patients.

Methods: We examined retrospectively, 56 PEL patients: 31 with aggressive diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and 25 with indolent lymphoma (20 mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and five follicular lymphoma). All patients had undergone [18F]FDG PET/CT at diagnosis (PET-I) and 50 of them also after therapy (PET-II).

Metastasis to the Sellar/Suprasellar Region in a Patient With Endometrial Carcinoma Detected by 18F-FDG PET/CT.

Metastases to pituitary gland, suprasellar region or skull base from endometrial carcinoma are an extremely rare occurrence. We report the case of a 77-year-old woman with metastasis to the sellar/suprasellar region from endometrial carcinoma revealed by F-FDG PET/CT and confirmed by subsequent CT and MRI of the brain. This case highlights the usefulness of a whole-body imaging methodology such as F-FDG PET/CT in the detection of distant and/or atypical sites of metastasis therefore being of help in guiding towards the correct diagnosis.

Prognostic role of FDG PET/CT in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer treated with 131-iodine empiric therapy.

Background: To assess the long-term prognostic value of F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) undergoing empiric radioiodine (RAI) therapy due to raising values of thyroglobulin (Tg).

Methods: Forty-nine patients with histological diagnosis of DTC (31 with papillary and 18 with follicular carcinoma) follow-up for a mean period of 7.9 ± 5 years after empiric RAI therapy were retrospectively analyzed.

Illustrating and Analyzing the Processes of Interprofessional Collaboration: A Lesson Learned from Palliative Care in Deconstructing the Concept.

Background: A basic tenet of palliative care is interprofessional collaboration. Palliative care educators and practitioners lead the way in responding to the Institute of Medicine's (2003) challenge to transform educational and health care systems through interprofessional collaboration. Through exemplary commitment to interprofessional collaboration, a college's academic and palliative care leader, in collaboration with Department Chairs and Directors of nursing and allied health professions, can illustrate and analyze the processes of interprofessional collaboration through the development of a simulated case study of a combat veteran with traumatic brain injury.

Multimodal imaging with (18)F-FDG-PET/CT and (111)In-Octreotide SPECT in patients with metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: The aim of our study was to determine the role of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG-PET/CT) and indium-111 Octreotide single photon emission tomography ((111)In-Octreotide SPECT) in the evaluation of metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MMTC).

Methods: Twenty-five MMTC patients were retrospectively evaluated. All patients had undergone whole-body (18)F-FDG-PET/CT including 20 who had also undergone (111)In-Octreotide SPECT within a maximum interval of 6 weeks.

Detection of Leptomeningeal Involvement by 18F-FDG-PET/CT in a Patient With Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Leptomeningeal infiltration of the brain or spinal cord by neoplastic cells may occur as complication of solid or hematopoietic tumors such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Previously rare, this event is becoming increasingly common as newer therapies can prolong survival but may not achieve therapeutic concentration in the central nervous system. Although prognosis is poor, early diagnosis and aggressive treatment may lead to prolonged survival and/or improvement of quality of life.

18F-FDG PET/CT, 99mTc-MIBI, and MRI in the prediction of outcome of patients with multiple myeloma: a comparative study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the relative contribution of 18F-FDG PET/CT, 99mTc-MIBI, and MRI in predicting progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-three newly diagnosed MM patients had been evaluated in a previous study by 18F-FDG PET/CT, 99mTc-MIBI, and spine and pelvis MRI reporting focal lesions and diffuse bone marrow involvement. Twenty-seven patients were then subjected to a mean follow-up period of 58 months, whereas 6 patients were lost.

Prognostic role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the postoperative evaluation of differentiated thyroid cancer patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of F-FDG PET/CT performed after surgery but before radioiodine therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.

Procedures: FDG PET/CT was performed off l-thyroxine in 60 newly diagnosed differentiated thyroid cancer patients. Clinical and hematological evaluation as well as high-resolution neck ultrasound were performed.

C-reactive protein levels are associated with paraoxonase polymorphism L55M in patients undergoing cardiac SPECT imaging.

Background: Oxidation and inflammation are linked processes playing an important role in the development and progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). The relation between oxidation and inflammation markers with myocardial ischemia is still controversial. We assessed the association between paraoxonase (PON) polymorphisms (rs854560, rs662, rs7493) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels with stress-induced ischemia in patients with suspected CAD.

Determinants of physiologic 18F-FDG uptake in brown adipose tissue in sequential PET/CT examinations.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess independent predictors of 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) uptake in brown adipose tissue (BAT) in patients undergoing repeated positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans.

Procedures: Eight hundred forty-eight (mean age 50.9 ± 16 years) patients in whom PET/CT scan was repeated (mean interval 5 ± 1.

18F-FDG PET/CT, 99mTc-MIBI, and MRI in evaluation of patients with multiple myeloma.

Unlabelled: New imaging techniques have been introduced to assess the extent and severity of disease in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. The aim of our study was to compare newer imaging modalities-such as (18)F-FDG PET/CT, (99m)Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile ((99m)Tc-MIBI) scintigraphy, and MRI-to assess their relative contribution in the evaluation of MM patients at diagnosis.

Methods: Thirty-three newly diagnosed patients with MM were prospectively studied.

Functional imaging of multidrug resistance in breast cancer.

Intrinsic or acquired multidrug resistance is the major cause of treatment failure in many human cancers. Multiple cellular mechanisms may contribute to the development of multidrug resistance including overexpression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp). The use of 99mTc-labeled lipophilic cations, which are transport substrate of Pgp, raised the possibility to predict the tumor response to treatment and to identify patients who will become refractory to subsequent therapy.

PET/CT colonography in patients with colorectal polyps: a feasibility study.

Purpose: To examine: (1) the feasibility of PET/CT colonography (PET/CTc) in patients with colorectal polyps; (2) the impact of metabolic information on CTc interpretation and, conversely, the impact of morphological information on PET characterisation of focal colorectal uptake.

Methods: Ten patients with colorectal polyps underwent PET/CTc, followed within 3 h by therapeutic conventional colonoscopy (CC). A radiologist and a nuclear medicine physician analysed the PET/CTc images.

Sestamibi and FDG-PET scans to support diagnosis of jaw osteonecrosis.

Osteonecrosis of the maxillary or mandibular bone is an infrequent but often severe event occurring in patients who undergo prolonged treatment with bisphosphonates. Histology is in some cases mandatory to differentiate it from neoplastic osteolysis, but a biopsy can further contribute to bone damage. Functional imaging obtained by a tracer that shows oncotropic properties, such as Tc99m-sestamibi, in comparison to a non-tumor-specific substance such as FDG-PET, can support the differential diagnosis, thus avoiding invasive procedures.

Short-term outcome of differentiated thyroid cancer patients receiving a second iodine-131 therapy on the basis of a detectable serum thyroglobulin level after initial treatment.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of high-dose 131I therapy administered only on the basis of raised serum Tg levels.

Methods: Among patients treated with total or near-total thyroidectomy and 131I ablation, 76 (54 women and 22 men) with differentiated thyroid cancer (41 with follicular and 35 with papillary cancer) showed a detectable (i.e.

Tc99m-sestaMIBI uptake in nonsecretory multiple myeloma.

Staging and monitoring of multiple myeloma (MM) is mainly based on monoclonal component quantification; the absence of such a parameter renders difficult follow up of patients with nonsecretory MM (nsMM). In this study our aims were to determine the specificity and sensitivity of Tc99m-sestaMIBI scintigraphy at diagnosis and during follow up of nsMM patients. Nine nsMM patients were prospectively studied at diagnosis and during treatment for a mean time of 33 months (range: 12-65+).