Tumour response evaluation with fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography: research technique or clinical tool?

The evaluation of treatment response is an established role for imaging in oncologic research and clinical practice. In early phase trials, imaging response criteria are used to determine the presence and magnitude of the drug effect on tumour to aid decisions concerning progress to late phase trials, and to inform dose selection and scheduling. In late phase trials and clinical practice, the imaging response is used as a surrogate for clinical outcome. Due to the limitations of current anatomic response criteria, there is growing interest in the use of [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) to assess treatment response. The technique is beginning to be adopted within mainstream approaches for evaluation of response in solid tumours and lymphoma. Difficulties with standardisation across PET centres and tumour types combined with uncertainty concerning the timing of assessment relative to treatment, have limited the use of quantitative measurements of FDG uptake to research applications. However, with a growing body of evidence that qualitative criteria such as the development of new PET lesions or complete metabolic response following treatment can provide surrogates marker for clinical outcome, [(18)F]FDG-PET is becoming established as a clinical technique for assessing tumour response, especially for FDG-avid lymphoma subtypes. Multimodality imaging using perfusion computed tomography/PET is an exciting novel technique with the potential to define treatment response in a new way.