Principles and current trends in the correlative evaluation of glioma by advanced MRI techniques and PET.

Principles and current trends in the correlative evaluation of glioma by advanced MRI techniques and PET. Hell J Nucl Med. 2019 Sep-Dec;22(3):206-219 Authors: Tsiouris S, Bougias C, Fotopoulos A Abstract Cerebral gliomas comprise a heterogeneous group of primary neoplasms of the central nervous system, representing a significant cause of cancer morbidity and mortality. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is paramount for identifying structural brain abnormalities related to the development of gliomas. Although morphological MRI remains the current standard of care for initial diagnostic workup, surgical planning, monitoring therapy response and surveillance during follow-up, it is rather difficult to define tumor grade and boundaries and to assess response to radiochemotherapy solely by contrast-enhancement, due to a variety of factors influencing blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and contrast agent distribution. The nature of a lesion lies beyond often misleading gross structural patterns, down to the cellular and molecular level, hence the imaging techniques of advanced multimodal MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) have emerged to provide a critical non-invasive insight into the underlying biology of primary brain cancer. Out of the various PET radiotracers, labeled amino acids are of particular significance due to their non-dependency on BBB disruption to reach glioma cells and their excellent tumor-to-...
Source: Hellenic Journal of Nuclear Medicine - Category: Nuclear Medicine Tags: Hell J Nucl Med Source Type: research