Pediatric liver tumors gobble up FDG

FDG-PET imaging may have a place for staging primary hepatic malignancies in children.

Dr. Rajen J. Mody and colleagues at the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, imaged seven children with pathologically proven hepatic malignancies. Six of the seven exhibited abnormal FDG uptake. Liver tumor was confirmed in three patients who underwent partial hepatic resection and in one patient who had a brain biopsy. Uptake in one patient was due to necrotizing granulomas, and another patient's images were suboptimal due to noncompliance with fasting.

The researchers concluded that FDG-PET imaging in pediatrics is most useful to assess response to therapy, in following alfa fetoprotein-negative cases, and for detecting metastatic disease. The study appeared in Pediatric Blood & Cancer (published online Aug. 2 ahead of print).