RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Usefulness of Dynamic <em>O</em>-(2-<sup>18</sup>F-Fluoroethyl)-<span class="sc">l</span>-Tyrosine PET in the Clinical Evaluation of Brain Tumors in Children and Adolescents
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 88
OP 92
DO 10.2967/jnumed.114.148734
VO 56
IS 1
A1 Dunkl, Veronika
A1 Cleff, Corvin
A1 Stoffels, Gabriele
A1 Judov, Natalie
A1 Sarikaya-Seiwert, Sevgi
A1 Law, Ian
A1 Bøgeskov, Lars
A1 Nysom, Karsten
A1 Andersen, Sofie B.
A1 Steiger, Hans-Jakob
A1 Fink, Gereon R.
A1 Reifenberger, Guido
A1 Shah, Nadim J.
A1 Coenen, Heinz H.
A1 Langen, Karl-Josef
A1 Galldiks, Norbert
YR 2015
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/56/1/88.abstract
AB Experience regarding O-(2-18F-fluoroethyl)-l-tyrosine (18F-FET) PET in children and adolescents with brain tumors is limited. Methods: Sixty-nine 18F-FET PET scans of 48 children and adolescents (median age, 13 y; range, 1–18 y) were analyzed retrospectively. Twenty-six scans to assess newly diagnosed cerebral lesions, 24 scans for diagnosing tumor progression or recurrence, 8 scans for monitoring of chemotherapy effects, and 11 scans for the detection of residual tumor after resection were obtained. Maximum and mean tumor-to-brain ratios (TBRs) were determined at 20–40 min after injection, and time–activity curves of 18F-FET uptake were assigned to 3 different patterns: constant increase; peak at greater than 20–40 min after injection, followed by a plateau; and early peak (≤20 min), followed by a constant descent. The diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FET PET was assessed by receiver-operating-characteristic curve analyses using histology or clinical course as a reference. Results: In patients with newly diagnosed cerebral lesions, the highest accuracy (77%) to detect neoplastic tissue (19/26 patients) was obtained when the maximum TBR was 1.7 or greater (area under the curve, 0.80 ± 0.09; sensitivity, 79%; specificity, 71%; positive predictive value, 88%; P = 0.02). For diagnosing tumor progression or recurrence, the highest accuracy (82%) was obtained when curve patterns 2 or 3 were present (area under the curve, 0.80 ± 0.11; sensitivity, 75%; specificity, 90%; positive predictive value, 90%; P = 0.02). During chemotherapy, a decrease of TBRs was associated with a stable clinical course, and in 2 patients PET detected residual tumor after presumably complete tumor resection. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that 18F-FET PET can add valuable information for clinical decision making in pediatric brain tumor patients.