|
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clinical Investigation |
1 Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan; 2 Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan; 3 Departments of Gastroenterology and Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan; and 4 Department of Pharmacy, Kagawa University Hospital, Kagawa, Japan
Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Yuka Yamamoto, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, 1750-1 Ikenobe, Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan. E-mail: yuka{at}kms.ac.jp
The purpose of this study was to retrospectively investigate the feasibility of 11C-choline PET, compared with 18F-FDG PET, for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: A total of 16 HCC lesions in 12 patients were examined with both 11C-choline PET and 18F-FDG PET. Tumor lesions were identified as areas of focally increased uptake, exceeding that of surrounding noncancerous liver tissue. For semiquantitative analysis, the tumor-to-liver (T/L) ratio was calculated by dividing the maximal standardized uptake value (SUV) in HCC lesions by the mean SUV in noncancerous liver tissue. Results: 11C-choline PET showed a slightly higher detection rate than did 18F-FDG PET for detection of HCC (63% vs. 50%, respectively), although this difference was not statistically significant. 11C-choline PET had a better detection rate for moderately differentiated HCC lesions but not for those poorly differentiated (75% vs. 25%, respectively). In contrast, 18F-FDG PET exhibited the opposite behavior, with corresponding detection rates of 42% and 75%, respectively. The mean 11C-choline SUV and T/L ratio in moderately differentiated HCC lesions were higher than those in poorly differentiated HCC lesions. In contrast, the mean 18F-FDG SUV and T/L ratio in poorly differentiated HCC were higher than those in moderately differentiated HCC. These differences, however, were also not statistically significant. Conclusion: 11C-choline PET had a better detection rate for moderately differentiated HCC lesions but not for poorly differentiated HCC lesions, whereas 18F-FDG PET produced the opposite result. 11C-choline is a potential tracer to complement 18F-FDG in detection of HCC lesions.
Key Words: 11C-choline 18F-FDG PET hepatocellular carcinoma
COPYRIGHT © 2008 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Inc.
Related articles in JNM:
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE TECHNOLOGY | THE JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE |