PET/CT: Is There a Role?

PET/CT co-registered with MRI plays a significant role in the management of gliomas and brain metastases from other tumors. The available radiopharmaceuticals are indices of glucose metabolism, amino acid transport, proliferation rate of tumor cells and hypoxia respectively. FDG and FLT are useful in grading and prognosis and amino acids MET, FET and FDOPA in the delineation of the tumor, especially of low grade gliomas, the differentiation between low and high grade gliomas and between recurrence and necrosis post therapy, as well as in radiotherapy planning and treatment efficacy assessment. Tracers of hypoxia demonstrate hypoxic tumor areas of radioresistance which need additional treatment.