RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 PET/MRI Improves Management of Children with Cancer
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 1334
OP 1340
DO 10.2967/jnumed.120.259747
VO 62
IS 10
A1 Lucia Baratto
A1 K. Elizabeth Hawk
A1 Lisa States
A1 Jing Qi
A1 Sergios Gatidis
A1 Louise Kiru
A1 Heike E. Daldrup-Link
YR 2021
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/62/10/1334.abstract
AB Integrated PET/MRI has shown significant clinical value for staging and restaging of children with cancer by providing functional and anatomic tumor evaluation with a 1-stop imaging test and with up to 80% reduced radiation exposure compared with 18F-FDG PET/CT. This article reviews clinical applications of 18F-FDG PET/MRI that are relevant for pediatric oncology, with particular attention to the value of PET/MRI for patient management. Early adopters from 4 different institutions share their insights about specific advantages of PET/MRI technology for the assessment of young children with cancer. We discuss how whole-body PET/MRI can be of value in the evaluation of certain anatomic regions, such as soft tissues and bone marrow, as well as specific PET/MRI interpretation hallmarks in pediatric patients. We highlight how whole-body PET/MRI can improve the clinical management of children with lymphoma, sarcoma, and neurofibromatosis, by reducing the number of radiologic examinations needed (and consequently the radiation exposure), without losing diagnostic accuracy. We examine how PET/MRI can help in differentiating malignant tumors versus infectious or inflammatory diseases. Future research directions toward the use of PET/MRI for treatment evaluation of patients undergoing immunotherapy and assessment of different theranostic agents are also briefly explored. Lessons learned from applications in children might also be extended to evaluations of adult patients.