Nuclear Medicine Imaging Procedures in Oncology.

ABSTRACT

Nuclear medicine radionuclide imaging is a quantitative imaging modality based on radioisotope-labeled tracers which emit radiation in the form of photons used for image reconstruction. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) are the two noninvasive tomographic three-dimensional radionuclide imaging procedures for both clinical and preclinical settings. In this review on nuclear medicine imaging procedures in oncology, a variety of standard SPECT and PET tracers including radioiodine, 18Fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), and 68Gallium-labeled small proteins like Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) or somatostatin analogues and their application as targeted molecular imaging probes for improved tumor diagnosis and tumor phenotype characterization are described. Absolute and semiquantitative approaches for calculation of tracer uptake in tumors during the course of disease and during treatment allow further insight into tumor biology, and the combination of SPECT and PET with anatomical imaging procedures like computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by hybrid SPECT/CT, PET/CT, and PET/MRI scanners provides both anatomical information and tumor functional characterization within one imaging session. With the recent establishment of novel molecular radiolabeled probes for specific tumor diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring, nuclear medicine has been able to establish itself as a distinct imaging modality with increased sensitivity and specificity.