The Role of PET/CT Molecular Imaging in the Diagnosis of Recurrence and Surveillance of Patients Treated for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Julio Francisco Jiménez-Bonilla; Remedios Quirce; I Martínez-Rodríguez; María De Arcocha-Torres; José Manuel Carril; Ignacio Banzo

doi:10.3390/diagnostics6040036

The Role of PET/CT Molecular Imaging in the Diagnosis of Recurrence and Surveillance of Patients Treated for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Diagnostics (Basel). 2016 Sep 30;6(4):36. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics6040036.

Authors

Julio Francisco Jiménez-Bonilla¹, Remedios Quirce², I Martínez-Rodríguez³, María De Arcocha-Torres⁴, José Manuel Carril⁵, Ignacio Banzo⁶

Affiliations

¹ Nuclear Medicine Department, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Molecular Imaging IDIVAL, University of Cantabria, 39008 Santander, Spain. jjimenez@humv.es.
² Nuclear Medicine Department, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Molecular Imaging IDIVAL, University of Cantabria, 39008 Santander, Spain. mnuqpm@humv.es.
³ Nuclear Medicine Department, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Molecular Imaging IDIVAL, University of Cantabria, 39008 Santander, Spain. mimartinez@humv.es.
⁴ Nuclear Medicine Department, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Molecular Imaging IDIVAL, University of Cantabria, 39008 Santander, Spain. marcocha@humv.es.
⁵ Nuclear Medicine Department, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Molecular Imaging IDIVAL, University of Cantabria, 39008 Santander, Spain. manuel.carril@unican.es.
⁶ Nuclear Medicine Department, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Molecular Imaging IDIVAL, University of Cantabria, 39008 Santander, Spain. mnubmj@humv.es.

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide and its prognosis remains poor. Molecular imaging with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT can metabolically characterize the nature of lesions as benign or malignant, allowing a better staging at the diagnosis of this kind of patient. This advantage can also be applied in the re-staging due to the suspicion of recurrent disease. Many patients have a recurrence of the disease, including surgically treated patients. In the current context, with new personalized oncological treatments, the surveillance for recurrence and its accurate diagnosis are crucial to improve their survival. In this paper, we revise the current knowledge about the clinical and molecular factors related to the recurrent disease. In the context of new, promising, available personalized treatments, the role of molecular imaging with PET/CT and ¹⁸F-FDG and non-¹⁸F-FDG radiotracers in the follow-up of NSCLC-treated patients is especially attractive and interesting.

Keywords: 18F-FDG; PET/CT; follow-up; non-small lung cancer; recurrence; surveillance.

Publication types

Review