Dear Molecular Imaging Insider,
Dual-time-point FDG-PET, a technique that measures the quantitative differences in FDG uptake from PET scans taken at two distinct time points, has shown promise in differentiating malignant lesions from benign tissue in research conducted over the past few years.
A team from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia recently employed a dual-time-point protocol to assess whether the technique could improve the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of PET in breast lesions.
Certain breast malignancies, such as well-differentiated and lobular carcinomas, have abnormally low FDG uptake in conventional, single-time-point PET imaging that is well below the threshold for the radiotracer's uptake in malignant lesions, according to the researchers. However, over time, standardized uptake values (SUVs) will increase in many tumors.
Inflammatory lesions, although benign, characteristically have elevated FDG uptake values, which can lead to false positives with single-time-point PET. With time, this uptake decreases.
The researchers developed a dual-time-point breast protocol that vastly improved the sensitivity of PET for distinguishing between malignant and inflammatory lesions when compared with traditional single-time-point PET. In addition, their technique may be feasible for integration into clinical practice.
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