FET PET-CT is a scan that can detect brain tumours – both primary and metastatic. FET PET-CT is indicated in the use of imaging of brain metastases as follows
- Detection of viable tumour tissue; Radiolabelled amino acid imaging is superior to FDG PET, CT and MRI for differentiation of viable tumour tissue from treatment induced non-malignant changes such as post-operative change, oedema or radiation necrosis. FET PET is also superior to FDG PET for low grade recurrence.
- Tumour Delineation; superior for estimation of true tumour extension in both low and high-grade gliomas.
- Selection of biopsy site; FET is recommended to guide stereotactic biopsy for classification and grading of glioma.
- Non-Invasive tumour grading; FET PET may aid in differentiating high grade gliomas from histologically benign brain tumours or non-neoplastic lesions. Oligodendroglioma and oligo-astrocytoma could have greater uptake than high grade gliomas.
- Therapy Planning; FET PET used in conjunction with anatomical imaging may better define tumour volumes for resection of radiation therapy.
- Tumour response; FET PET may predict the response to chemo and radiation therapy as it allows for earlier detection of residual tumour post-surgery.
Radiolabelled amino acids offer improvement over anatomical imaging (CT/MRI) as well as FDG PET-CT due to the low uptake of amino acids in normal brain tissue and therefore may be more tumour specific as uptake is less impacted by inflammation (1,2)
FET PET-CT imaging is offered at all Qscan clinics with PET-CT services. Click here to find a clinic near you.
References
1.
EANM Procedure Guidelines for Brain Tumour Imaging using Radiolabelled Amino Acid Analogues, Vander Borght et al 2006
2. Impact of F18-Fluoro-ethyl-tyrosine PET Imaging on target definition for radiation therapy of high-grade glioma, Rosenschold et al, Neuro-Oncology, Vol 17, Issue 5, May 2015.