Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2007; 11(4): 312-321
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1060334
© Thieme Medical Publishers

PET/CT in Malignant Bone Disease

Einat Even-Sapir1
  • 1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
07 March 2008 (online)

ABSTRACT

The most commonly used positron emission tomography (PET) tracer in clinical practice, fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) is a glucose analogue that directly gains entry in excess into tumor cells. It is therefore sensitive for the detection of early bone marrow involvement prior to any identifiable bone changes. The introduction of 18F-FDG-PET in the imaging algorithms of various malignant diseases often obviates the need to perform a separate assessment of malignant bone involvement with conventional bone scintigraphy. After therapy, disappearance of 18F-FDG accumulation indicates success even when the bone remains morphologically abnormal. Novel hybrid systems composed of PET and computed tomography (CT) allow for acquisition of both modalities in the same clinical setting and the generation of fused functional-anatomical images. This technique has been found to improve the diagnostic accuracy of PET in detecting malignant bone involvement. This article discusses the role of PET/CT, primarily 18F-FDG PET/CT, in the assessment of malignant bone involvement in patients with primary bone sarcomas, common solid malignancies, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.

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Einat Even-SapirM.D. Ph.D. 

Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

6 Weizman St., Tel-Aviv, 64239 Israel

Email: evensap@tasmc.health.gov.il

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