Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 17, 2026

Modeling Brain Metastasis by Internal Carotid Artery Injection of Cancer Cells
Published on: August 2, 2022
Synchronous multiple meningiomas and renal cell carcinoma metastasis to the brain in a 68Ga-DOTATATE scan:
Victor Goulenko1,2, Venkatesh Shankar Madhugiri1,2, Neil D Almeida1,2
1Department of Radiation Medicine, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York.
Background:
In the last few years, there has been an increased use of theragnostics for the detection of intracranial lesions. The use of 68Ga-DOTATATE has shown beneficial use for meningiomas, but it can pose a challenge when evaluating dura-based metastatic lesions.
Observations:
The authors describe the case of a 60-year-old patient with a confirmed diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that presented on brain MRI with two dura-based lesions and an intra-axial mass. All three lesions presented uptake on 68Ga-DOTATATE with different standardized uptake value (SUV) levels.
Lessons:
68Ga-DOTATATE is highly sensitive for detecting benign and malignant CNS tumors, including small lesions. It aids in planning treatment, defining radiosurgical targets, and monitoring response. In RCC, it yields a higher SUV than 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, making it a more effective diagnostic tool. In meningiomas, the SUV correlates with tumor growth rate. However, specificity is limited, and interpretation requires correlation with MRI, CT, and clinical findings. As its use in CNS tumors grows, understanding its capabilities and limitations is crucial for proper application. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE25527.

