[Abstract] [Full Text PDF] (in Japanese / 2538KB) [Members Only And Two Factor Auth.]

J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 103(4): 325-330, 2002


Feature topic

DIAGNOSIS OF ESOPHAGEAL CANCER USING POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY

National lnstitute of Radiological Sciences, Research Center Hospital for Charged Particle Therapy, Clinical Diagnosis Section, Chiba, Japan

Katsumi Tamura, Kyosan Yoshikawa, Hirohiko Tsujii, Hajime Murata

Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is more accurate than computed tomography (CT) for evaluating lymph node metastases and for N staging, but less accurate than combined CT and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). Lymph nodes located adjacent to the primary lesion tend to be false negatives. We consider that combined FDG-PET and EUS is the most accurate for the detection of lymph node metastasis in esophageal cancer. FDG-PET is also more accurate than CT for detecting distant metastases and improves the detection of stage IV disease compared with the conventional staging modalities. For the diagnosis of recurrence except for perianastomotic recurrence, FDG-PET provides additional information and is more sensitive than conventional work-ups. FDGPET is a valuable tool for the noninvasive assessment of tumor response after neoadjuvant therapy. 11C-methionine (MET) is another tracer for PET that can be used to assess the metabolism of amino acids, since MET accumulates in esophageal malignant tumors. Choline-PET is more accurate than FDG-PET for the detection of mediastinal lymph node metastases.


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