The role of Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in staging and restaging of patients with osteosarcoma
Abstract
Background. The objective of this study is to systematically review the role of positron emission tomography (PET) and PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) with Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in patients with osteosarcoma (OS).
Methods. A comprehensive literature search of published studies through October 10th, 2012 in PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase and Scopus databases regarding whole-body FDG-PET and FDG-PET/CT in patients with OS was performed.
Results. We identified 13 studies including 289 patients with OS. With regard to the staging and restaging of OS, the diagnostic performance of FDG-PET and PET/CT seem to be high; FDG-PET and PET/CT seem to be superior to bone scintigraphy and conventional imaging methods in detecting bone metastases; conversely, spiral CT seems to be superior to FDG-PET in detecting pulmonary metastases from OS
Conclusions. Metabolic imaging may provide additional information in the evaluation of OS patients. The combination of FDG-PET or FDG-PET/CT with conventional imaging methods seems to be a valuable tool in the staging and restaging of OS and may have a relevant impact on the treatment planning.
© 2013 Natale Quartuccio, Giorgio Treglia, Marco Salsano, Maria Vittoria Mattoli, Barbara Muoio, Arnoldo Piccardo, Egesta Lopci, Angelina Cistaro, published by Association of Radiology and Oncology
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