Positron emission tomography and neoadjuvant therapy of breast cancer

The increasing use of neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer has led to the development of early surrogate markers of response. Positron emission tomography (PET) allows noninvasive study of fundamental biologic processes in the tumor; furthermore, PET provides various markers to assess tumor response early in the course of therapy. Numerous studies have shown that changes in tumor glucose metabolism during therapy are significantly correlated with final response and patient outcome. Moreover, new PET tracers that are currently being developed or under evaluation, providing specific information on tumor characteristics or receptor expression, will assist the development of new targeted anticancer agents.