[Cancer diagnosis with positron emission tomography (PET)]

PET using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) or 11C-L-methionine (Met) enables cancer diagnosis based on higher metabolic demand of malignant tumor, that is correlated to uncontrolled cell proliferation. PET using FDG or Met is useful for differential diagnosis or staging of malignant tumor in brain, head and neck, lung, breast, adrenal, pancreas, and others. PET is also useful for detection of recurrent tumor in post-therapy scar or necrosis in colon, lung and brain. Recently, basic studies clarified the mechanisms of tracers accumulation in tumor tissue at the microscopic level, which will be helpful for the improvement of diagnostic accuracy of PET. PET can provide useful information to improve patient management in oncology.