PET/CT in the evaluation of treatment response in gynecological cancers

Abstract

Gynecological cancers are ranked as the fourth most common type of cancer in the world. Although there are differences in the stage of the disease and histopathological subtypes to evaluate the treatment response, F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) in patients with cervix, ovarian, endometrial and vulva-vaginal cancer seems to provide significant benefit in estimating the treatment response and, in certain cases, in the revision and regulation of the treatment protocol. The change in FDG uptake after different treatments, time of imaging, frequency of examination, and the effect on survival advantage should be evaluated and discussed on a patient basis. In the light of increasing evidence, it is observed that F-18 FDG PET/CT functional imaging has an important role as a monitoring tool in patients with gynecological cancer. In this review, we aimed to examine the role of F-18 FDG PET/CT, a metabolic imaging method, in the evaluation of response to treatment in gynecological malignancies. However, it is clear that more studies are needed to determine the clinical benefits of this modality.