[Positron emission tomography in the Netherlands: need to expand the capacity]

Positron emission tomography with 18fluor-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG-PET) is increasingly used in clinical practice, especially in oncology. However, in the Netherlands, guidelines for its routine use are lacking, probably due to the limited availability and costs of PET technology. The increasing demand for evidence of a positive effect on patient management (and outcome) following the introduction of new diagnostic tests, also plays an important role. For non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) such evidence is now available. In a prospective randomised multicentre study performed in the Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Amsterdam, FDG-PET reduced the number of futile thoracotomies in patients with suspected NSCLC by 50%. This and other studies resulted in a regional guideline (formulated by pulmonologists, surgeons, radiotherapists, radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians) for the use of FDG-PET in patients with (suspected) NSCLC. Several, predominantly multicentre, studies to evaluate the effectiveness of FDG-PET in subgroups of patients with colorectal cancer, breast cancer, oesophageal cancer, ENT tumours, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and NSCLC (early in the diagnostic workup), are currently being undertaken in the Netherlands. The results of these might facilitate a cost-effective positioning of PET technology for routine patient care in the Netherlands. A recent report from the Comprehensive Cancer Centre in the south of the Netherlands, based on scenarios in Belgium and the United States, indicates that the availability of PET facilities should increase substantially over the next decade, so as to ensure access to all patients who may benefit from this technology.