PET and PET-CT in esophageal and gastric cancer.

Esophageal cancer ranks among the ten most common malignancies in the world and is a frequent cause of cancer-related death. Almost all therapeutic modalities for esophageal cancer are associated with considerable mortality and morbidity. Consequently, there has been growing concern regarding effective management of esophageal cancer. Imaging plays an important role in the initial selection of patients. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) is playing an increasing role in the management of esophageal cancer. The role of FDG-PET in diagnosis, preoperative staging, monitoring of response to neoadjuvant therapy, and detection of disease recurrence is evaluated in this chapter.