[Nuclear medical diagnostics for liver tumors]

Area of Science:

• Nuclear medicine
• Medical imaging
• Oncology

Background:

• Standard nuclear medical procedures have limited routine use in liver tumor workup.
• These techniques can assess organ function and diagnose unclear liver lesions.
• Advancements like SPECT and PET/CT significantly improve sensitivity and specificity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role of nuclear medicine in liver tumor diagnosis and management.
• To highlight the advancements in scintigraphy, SPECT, and PET/CT.
• To discuss the application of molecular imaging in oncology.

Main Methods:

• Review of scintigraphy, SPECT, SPECT/CT, and PET/CT in liver tumor detection.
• Discussion of specific tracers like FDG, [68Ga]DOTATOC, and [18F]DOPA.
• Emphasis on whole-body PET/CT for staging and follow-up.

Main Results:

• SPECT and SPECT/CT increase sensitivity and specificity of scintigraphy.
• FDG-PET/CT is highly sensitive for detecting hepatic and extrahepatic metastases.
• PET imaging with specific tracers aids in neuroendocrine tumor metastasis detection.
• Molecular imaging with PET enables quantification of metabolic processes for treatment response assessment.

Conclusions:

• Advanced nuclear imaging techniques, particularly PET/CT, are crucial for liver tumor diagnosis, staging, and monitoring.
• Molecular imaging provides valuable insights into tumor biology and treatment efficacy.
• These modalities enhance the diagnostic capabilities beyond traditional methods.