Positron emission tomography and cancer

Abstract

Positron emission tomography, PET, is a potent imaging tool in the management of a diverse array of cancers. This chapter briefly discusses the rationale for PET imaging and describes how it differs from more typical anatomic imaging, reviews the principles of metabolic targeting with the radiolabeled glucose analogue 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG), and then describes the clinical results of PET imaging in several types of common cancers. Although there are detailed descriptions of tumor imaging with other modalities in several areas of this textbook, the discussion here focuses on the role of PET. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.