Endocrine tumors: The evolving role of positron emission tomography in diagnosis and management
M. Naji1, M. Hodolic2, S. El-Refai3, S. Khan1, M.C. Marzola4, D. Rubello4, and A. Al-Nahhas1
1Department for Nuclear Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, United Kingdom; 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 3Department of Nuclear Medicine, ‘Qasr El-Aini’ Hospital, Cairo, Egypt; 4Department of Radiology, Medical Physics and Nuclear Medicine, ‘Santa Maria della Misericordia’ Hospital, Rovigo, Italy

Endocrine tumors comprise a range of benign and malignant conditions that produce a spectrum of clinical symptoms and signs depending on the specific hormones they produce. The symptoms and presentations of these tumors are often independent of their size and location. Because of their expression of cell membrane receptors or production of specific types of hormones or peptides, endocrine tumors can be identified with functional radionuclide imaging much more readily compared to standard cross-sectional imaging. In recent years, 18F-fluoro-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) has emerged as a useful tool for diagnosing and assessing many tumors. In this review we describe how PET, using 18F-FDG and other radiopharmaceuticals can be useful in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of endocrine tumors. (J. Endocrinol. Invest. 33: 54-60, 2010) ©2010, Editrice Kurtis

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