Role of 18F-NaF PET/CT in bone metastases

The use of ¹⁸F sodium fluoride (¹⁸F-NaF) in positron emission tomography (PET/CT) is increasing. This resurgence of an old tracer has been driven by several factors, including its superior diagnostic performance over standard 99mTc-based bone scintigraphy (BS), availability of PET/CT imaging systems, a shortened examination time and an increase in the number of regional commercial PET radiotracer distribution. In this special article, we aimed to highlight the current place of the ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT in the imaging of bone metastases (BM) in a variety of malignancies. A special focus is given to the following ones: breast cancer (BC), prostate cancer (PCa). Also, other malignancies such as bladder cancer, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, multiple myeloma, head and neck cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma have been addressed. At last, we summarize the advantages and limits of the ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT compared to other imaging modalities in these settings.