Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most frequent cancer worldwide and the most frequently diagnosed cancer in Europe. Although its incidence is increasing, mortality has decreased in the more developed countries, principally due to the improvement of treatment options and to prevention screening allowing earlier diagnosis. In the decision-making process of patients with CRC, a multidisciplinary board of specialists must be involved in which the nuclear medicine physician plays an important role. [18F]FDG PET/CT is the most widely used diagnostic nuclear medicine technique in oncology, and its usefulness has been proven also in the management of patients with CRC. According to the most recent guidelines, the role of [18F]FDG PET/CT is recognized as appropriate in restaging patients with suspected recurrence of CRC, in patients with elevated serum tumor markers such as CEA and a negative or inconclusive standard-diagnostic workup, or for presurgical evaluation of patients with recurrent disease and potentially resectable metastatic lesions. [18F]FDG PET/CT in CRC holds promise for systematic follow-up and for evaluation of response to therapy, especially in the evaluation of chemoradiation therapy in metastatic cancer (late and early response) or of local treatment efficacy with, e.g., radiofrequency ablation of liver metastases. The aim of this chapter is to review the available scientific evidence on the role of nuclear medicine imaging in CRC patients, with special emphasis on the guidelines and recommendations of the main international scientific associations regarding this disease.
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Abbreviations
- [18F]FDG:
-
2-deoxy-2-18F-fluoro-D-glucose
- 99mTc-HDP:
-
99mTc-hydroxyethylenediphosphonate
- AJCC:
-
American Joint Committee on Cancer
- CEA:
-
Carcinoembryonic antigen
- ceCT:
-
Contrast-enhanced computed tomography
- CI:
-
Confidence interval
- CMR:
-
Complete metabolic response
- CRC:
-
Colorectal cancer
- CT:
-
Computed tomography
- CTV:
-
Clinical tumor volume
- IBD:
-
Inflammatory bowel disease
- MRI:
-
Magnetic resonance imaging
- PERCIST:
-
Positron emission tomography response criteria in solid tumors
- PET:
-
Positron emission tomography
- PREDIST:
-
PET residual disease in solid tumor
- SUV:
-
Standardized uptake value
- TNM :
-
Tumor-staging system based on status of the tumor (T), lymph node metastasis (N), and distant metastasis (M)
- TRG:
-
Tumor regression grade
- UICC:
-
International Union Against Cancer (Union Internationale Contre le Cancer)
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Polverari, G., Penna, D., Cassalia, L., Deandreis, D., Pelosi, E. (2022). Diagnostic Applications of Nuclear Medicine: Colorectal Cancer. In: Volterrani, D., Erba, P.A., Strauss, H.W., Mariani, G., Larson, S.M. (eds) Nuclear Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26067-9_19-2
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Diagnostic Applications of Nuclear Medicine: Colorectal Cancer- Published:
- 20 May 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26067-9_19-3
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Diagnostic Applications of Nuclear Medicine: Colorectal Cancer
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- 09 April 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26067-9_19-2
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Diagnostic Applications of Nuclear Medicine: Colorectal Cancer- Published:
- 07 October 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26067-9_19-1