Interim (18)F-FDG-PET/CT during chemo-radiotherapy in the management of oesophageal cancer patients. A systematic review.

Interim (18)F-FDG-PET/CT during chemo-radiotherapy in the management of oesophageal cancer patients. A systematic review. Radiother Oncol. 2017 Oct 10;: Authors: Cremonesi M, Garibaldi C, Timmerman R, Ferrari M, Ronchi S, Grana CM, Travaini L, Gilardi L, Starzyńska A, Ciardo D, Orecchia R, Jereczek-Fossa BA, Leonardi MC Abstract Oesophageal cancer is an aggressive disease. The possibility to early stratify patients as responsive and non-responsive with a non-invasive method is extremely appealing. The uptake of Fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) in tumours, provided by positron emission tomography (PET) images, has been proved to be useful to assess the initial staging of the disease, recurrence, and response to chemotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy (CRT). In the last years, efforts have been focused on the possibility to use ad interim (18)F-FDG-PET/CT (PETint) to evaluate response during radiation therapy. However, controversial findings have been reported, although some relevant results would support its use for individual therapeutic decision. The present review assembles the comprehensive literature of the last decade to evaluate whether and in which cases PETint may offer predictive potential in oesophageal cancer. All the analysed studies (13 studies, 697 patients) denoted PETint as a challenging examination for early assessment of outcomes during CRT. In particular, 8 studies advocated the predictivity of PETint, whilst 5 did not ...
Source: Radiotherapy and Oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Radiother Oncol Source Type: research