Researchers at Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, Mumbai, also found that F-18 fluoride PET/CT had the least number of equivocal lesions compared to technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate (MDP) planar, SPECT, and SPECT/CT studies, due to the increased sensitivity of fluoride over MDP and also due to the morphological detail provided by CT.
"The study provides enough evidence for the utilization of F-18 flouride PET/CT as a one-stop evaluation of bone metastases," said Dr. Venkatesh Rangarajan, lead author and professor in-charge of Tata's bioimaging unit. "The short duration of acquisition and the short duration of the study is unique, and the [low] number of equivocal or inconclusive findings makes this test significantly advantageous."
Given the current global shortage of molybdenum-99, Rangarajan believes that shifting from bone scans to fluoride PET/CT studies would be "a wise decision both for the patient and the doctor. F-18 flouride is a radiopharmaceutical which has been approved by the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] for clinical use and distribution, so PET centers could make use of this useful test profitably."
