PET aids neuroblastoma management decisions

Children's hospitals in Cincinnati and Memphis, TN, have established the value of FDG-PET for depicting the extent of neuroblastoma in some patients, particularly for those in the early stages of the disease.

Lead author Dr. Susan E. Sharp, an assistant professor of clinical radiology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues reviewed a total of 113 paired planar and SPECT Iodine-123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) and FDG-PET/CT scans in 60 patients with neuroblastoma. The investigators found that for stage 1 and stage 2 neuroblastoma patients, FDG-PET depicted more primary or residual neuroblastoma. However, they also found MIBG imaging may be needed to exclude higher stage disease that has spread to the bone or bone marrow (J Nucl Med 2009;50[8]:1237-1243).