Integrative imaging biomarker: Global disease assessment with PET/CT, a combination of functional and structural image quantification

Learning Objectives To discuss the importance of global disease assessment as a novel and necessary PET/CT quantification method and to review its clinical applications.

Global disease assessment is a promising approach that enhances the accuracy and precision of PET/CT imaging quantification. It requires calculating tissue volume and accurate regional metabolic activity of the organ or disease site of interest. A wide range of clinical applications including detection, pretreatment staging of cancer and other disorders, treatment planning, evaluation for therapy response and post treatment surveillance has been suggested for this approach. The efficacy of this concept has been shown in different clinical settings such as Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, hepatic steatosis, inflammatory disorders and oncology. Measuring global disease burden in malignant or benign disorders provides physicians and scientists the most useful information for either clinical or research purpose. In particular, it is a robust tool to measure the effectiveness of new treatment. In this presentation, the following subjects will be reviewed to show the biological basis of global disease assessment and some clinical applications of this method: 1) Importance of biomarkers in medicine and medical sciences (personalized medicine for diagnostic and therapeutic purpose) 2) PET/CT quantification as an imaging biomarker 3) Introduction of the concept of global disease assessment as a novel quantification method for certain pathologic conditions 4) Clinical applications for global metabolic assessment a) Alzheimer’s disease b) Atherosclerosis (Atheroburden) c) Hepatic steatosis d) Oncology e) Inflammatory bowel disease f) Sarcoidosis g) Cardiovascular calcification