Preliminary experience with 18f-fluoro-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in pediatric oncology patients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to present preliminary experience with FDG PET/CT in pediatric oncology patients in National PET Center, Clinical Center of Serbia and to asses its impact on management of malignancies in children. 33 FDG PET/CT scans were performed on 30 pediatric patients. PET/CT imaging was performed for staging the disease, assessing therapy efficacy and diagnosing recurrent or metastatic disease. FDG PET/CT changed the stage of the disease in 60.6% (20/33) of the cases. 14 patients were down-staged after PET/CT, mostly patients with Hodgkin's disease, were in 7/10 cases PET/CT showed no activity in residual masses. Six scans led to upstage of the disease. In three cases PET/CT did not change the stage of disease, but has showed new distant metastases. In conclusion, FDG PET/CT showed important role in managing pediatric patients with different malignancies and was useful complementary diagnostic tool to conventional imaging methods.

Value of18F-FDG PET and PET/CT for Evaluation of Pediatric Malignancies

“…Importantly, the results of PET/CT scans demonstrated an impact on clinical decisions and patient management. For example, in a study on pediatric patients with lymphoma, Ewing sarcoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor, or medulloblastoma, 18 F-FDG PET/CT changed the staging results in 61% of cases when compared with conventional imaging modalities (including CT, MR imaging, and ultrasonography) (19). Diagnostic information obtained from 18 F-FDG PET scans changed management in 24% of pediatric oncology patients, including those with lymphoma, sarcoma, central nervous system tumor, and plexiform neurofibroma (20).…”