Nuclear: PET for Cancer Flashcards
How is 18-FDG produced?
Cyclotron
What is the cause of FDG uptake at the arrow?
Attenuation correction artifact from a respiratory motion artifact
What is the difference between B and C?
C is the non-attenuation correction image (reduced attenuation correction artifact from a metal breast implant port)
How can you tell whether apparent FDG uptake near a cardiac pacemaker is due to attenuation correction artifact?
Look at the non-attenuation corrected images
What is the critical organ for 18-FDG?
Bladder
How does FDG enter cells?
GLUT1 transporter
Note: Once inside, it is phosphorylated by hexokinase which traps it in the cell.
How long should you wait after treatment to repeat a FDG PET?
Chemotherapy: Wait 2-3 weeks
Radiation: Wait 8-12 weeks
How do you calculate SUV?
FDG concentration at time T/(fdg dose/body weight)
What is the limit of resolution for FDG PET?
Lesions less than 1 cm are generally too small for PET
What is considered an abnormal SUV?
In general, people say that an SUV > 2.0 is usually abnormal (cancer or infection/inflammation)
How do blood glucose levels affect FDG PET?
Higher blood glucose levels artificially lower SUVs
Note: This is why serum glucose is tested and should be less than 150-200 prior to the study.
What happened?
Insulin was given to the pt before the FDG PET
Note: Insulin will drive the radiotracer (and other glucose) into muscles.
When is thymus uptake of FDG normal?
- Young pts (<13 y/o)
- After chemotherapy (i.e. thymus rebound)
Brown fat (classic distribution in the neck/supraclavicular region and upper abdomen)
Note: This is more often seen in younger pts and pts who were cold during the uptake period.
How can you reduce FDG uptake in brown fat?
- Keep the waiting room warm
- Give medications (e.g. propranolol or reserpine)
- Diet (have a high fat and very low carb diet the night before and morning of the study)
Hibernoma (benign brown fat tumor)
Note: These are often taken out because they can’t easily be distinguished from liposarcoma.
How does obesity affect FDG PET?
Obesity causes artificially increased SUV values (fat takes up less glucose than muscle)
Ki67
An antigen associated with cellular proliferation (more Ki67 = more aggressive tumor)