Ovarian and Endometrial Uptake in 18F FDG PET CT

http://nucleus.iaea.org/HHW/NuclearMedicine/PET_CT_Gallery/FDG_Biodistribution/2._Normal_Variants/5._Ovarian_and_Endometrium.pdf

Ovarian and Endometrial uptake in 18F FDG PET CT is common and dependent on the time of imaging with relation to the menstrual cycle. These findings should be interpreted carefully. 

Click the above links for full description from the IAEA Teaching files site of the Human Health Campus. 

Thymus 18F FDG Uptake - Normal Variant or Hyper- stimulation

http://nucleus.iaea.org/HHW/NuclearMedicine/PET_CT_Gallery/FDG_Biodistribution/2._Normal_Variants/6._Thymus.pdf

The above image shows the standard normal biodistribution of 18F FDG uptake in a patient imaged with 18 F FDG.

Please click on the image or link above to view the PDF of teaching files on increased thymus uptake which can happen as a normal Variant due to hyper-stimulation of thymus post chemotherapy. This could be misinterpreted as active disease in many a situation.    

Normal Bio-distribution of 18F FDG Imaging in PET CT

Click on Image to link to IAEA official website for detailed description of 18F FDG - PET CT Bio-distribution  

The Role of PET/CT in Radiation Treatment Planning for Cancer Patient Treatment

Please Click the above image to download the TEC DOC from the official IAEA site

Clinical PET, combined with utilization of 18F-FDG, may have an important role in radiation treatment planning (RTP) in lung cancer. In addition to determining if RT is appropriate and whether therapy will be given with curative or palliative intent, 18F-FDG-PET is useful for determining therapy ports. It can be used both to limit ports to spare normal tissue and to include additional involved regions. Several studies have shown that PET has an impact on RTP in an important proportion of patients. It is to be hoped that treatment plans that include all the 18F-FDG-avid lesions or the 18F-FDG-avid portions of a complex mass will result in more effective local control with less unnecessary tissue being treated.

The IAEA has placed emphasis on the issue of application of clinical PET for radiation treatment planning in various cancer patients.

A Guide to Clinical PET in Oncology: Improving Clinical Management of Cancer Patients

Please click the image to reach IAEA TECDOC official Site Page.

Positron emission tomography (PET) has an approximately 50 year-history. It was developed as a tool for medical science to quantitatively measure metabolic rates of bio-substances in vivo and in particular the number of receptors in neuroscience. Until the late 1990s PET was, in most cases, a research-oriented activity.

In 2001, Positron Emission Tomography/X-ray Computed Tomography (PET/CT) hybrid imaging systems became commercially available. An era of clinical PET then emerged, in which PET images were utilized for clinical practice in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer patients.

This IAEA-TECDOC presents an overview of clinical PET for cancer patients and a relevant source of information on clinical PET in oncology for nuclear medicine physicians, radiologists and clinical practitioners. Possible ideas for cost effectiveness of clinical PET in oncology are mentioned. The information is also intended to be useful in decision making to improve clinical management of cancer patients when allocating resources dedicated to the health care system. This is a critical issue that is important for the development of both clinical oncology and nuclear medicine in IAEA member states.

DEFINITIONS OF THE APPROPRIATENESS CRITERIA FOR THE USE OF PET

The use of PET for clinical indications can be considered appropriate, potentially appropriate, possibly appropriate or inappropriate. The appropriateness criteria for the usefulness of PET are defined as follows:

Appropriate (all the conditions below must be met)

• There is evidence of improved diagnostic performance (higher sensitivity and specificity) compared with other current techniques.
• The information derived from the PET scan influences clinical practice.
• The information derived from the PET scan has a plausible impact on the patient’s outcome, either through adoption of more effective therapeutic strategies or through non-adoption of ineffective or harmful practices.

Potentially appropriate (potentially useful)

• There is evidence of improved diagnostic performance (greater sensitivity and specificity) compared with other current techniques, but evidence of an impact on treatment and outcome is lacking.

Possibly appropriate (appropriateness not yet documented)

• There is insufficient evidence for assessment, although there is a strong rationale for clinical benefit from PET.

Inappropriate

• Improved accuracy of tumor staging will not alter management, or the performance of PET is poorer than that of other current techniques.

DEFINITIONS OF INDICATIONS FOR PET SCANNING

Seven different indications for PET scanning are considered here: diagnosis, staging, response evaluation, restaging, suspected recurrence, followup and radiotherapy (RT) planning. They are defined as follows:

1. Diagnosis: 

• Characterization of mass lesion: indication of whether a mass lesion is benign or malignant
• PET guided biopsy: assistance in guiding biopsy to the region of a tumor with the highest metabolic activity, identified on the PET scan by the area(s) of highest FDG uptake
• Detection of occult primary cancer (cancer of unknown primary site)
• Raised tumor markers: determination of the presence of cancer
• Metastasis: determination of the primary site when metastases have been detected.

2. Staging:

• Assessment of the extent of disease prior to initiation of treatment.

3. Response Evaluation:

• Assessment of treatment response during or after therapy.

4. Restaging:

• Assessment of the extent of disease following initial therapy or when recurrence has been confirmed.

5. Suspected Recurrence: 

• Assessment of the presence of cancer following clinical and/or biochemical suspicion of recurrence.

6. Follow-up:

• Surveillance in the absence of clinical evidence of recurrence.

7. Radiation Therapy (RT) Planning:

• Aid in the placement of radiation fields (this assumes that there has been a decision to use RT).

The 21 Cancers where PET CT is useful in any of the above mentioned appropriateness criteria are as follows : 

(1) Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) 

(2) Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) 

(3) Lymphoma 

(4) Breast cancer 

(5) Melanoma 

(6) Ovarian cancer 

(7) Cancer of the uterus and cervix 

(8) Head and neck cancers 

(9) Kidney cancer 

(10) Germinal tumours 

(11) Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) 

(12) Colorectal cancer 

(13) Gastric carcinoma 

(14) Sarcomas (soft tissue and bone) 

(15) Primary tumours of the central nervous system 

(16) Nasopharyngeal carcinomas 

(17) Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) 

(18) Pancreatic adenocarcinoma 

(19) Cholangio- and gallbladder carcinomas 

(20) Oesophageal cancer 

(21) Thyroid cancer. 

Age Adjusted Incidence Rates (AAR) per 100,000 persons of leading cancer sites in Thiruvananthapuram Taluk (2011) as per the published annual report of Regional Cancer Centre thiruvananthapuram's, Population Bases cancer Registry for the thiruvananthapuram Taluk, Kerala is as follows: 

The Age wise incidence of Cancer for each cancer type in male and Female at Regional Cancer Centre thiruvananthapuram, as per its annual report for the year 2012-13 is as follows: 

The annual statistics report of Regional Cancer Centre Thiruvananthapuram has published the referral pattern of patients presenting at the RCC Thiruvananthapuram for 2012-13, as mentioned below: 

 

The below mentioned details specify the presentation of cases in socio-economic category and its divisions and in which clinics these cases presented in the year 2012-13 at Regional Cancer centre thiruvananthapuram, kerala: 

To hypothetically assess the requirement of PET CT in the sate of kerala, using the above statistics which is the most authentic and published by the Regional cancer centre for the year 2012-13, which is also recent, the following inferences can be assumed with great accuracy:

• The number of new cases in RCC per year is approximately 15000.
• The number of cases on follow up in RCC is approximately 193941.
• The total number of cases seen per annum in RCC is 200000 per annum approximately.
• Approximate thumb rule requirement of PET CT imaging in cancer care falls in the region of 50% of all cancer patients. Assuming that 15000 are new patients and about 30% are post treated patients in remission not requiring PET CT at all and about 20% of the followup patients are cured or belong to a group where PET CT may not be usefull, and also assuming the fact that the, out of the remaining 100000 more than 80% have completed their course with no complications and would not require a PET CT for immediate needs of evaluation. The number of patients requiring PET CT in RCC alone would be a minimum of 7500 (New) + 20000 (on Follow up) per annum = 27500 PET CT scans if one scan per year is the requirement per patient, which in general is 2 scans. 
• Assuming a 50% absolute number of the said 27500 which is equal to 13750 on clinical requirement on a absolute nature, which in general is the global trend, and assuming 5 days of PET CT function a week, for 12 months which will give 240 working days and assuming 10 scans can be done in one day on one machine - since FDG has to be flown in, to perform 13750 scans the centre would require 6 PET CT's. 

The minimum basis requirement for handling standardized, cancer care, as is practiced across the globe and in the metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Banglore, Hydrabad ect will require 5 PET CT machines in Trivandrum. 

The full indications of PET CT imaging are now available at IAEA Human Health Campus.       

DDNMRC PET Scans at Trivandrum has started functioning since June 2014 at Trivandrum and the following pet Scans are available on a daily basis : 

• 18F FDG Whole Body PET CT : Rs 20500 (RCC Patients) and Rs 22500 (others)
• 68 Ga PSMA PET CT - for Prostate Cancer - Rs 15000/- (daily) from (17th March 2015)
• 68 Ga DOTA TOC/ NOC/ TATE PET CT  for Neuro endocrine Tumors - Rs 22500/- (daily)
• 68 Ga DOTA RGD PET CT Vascular neo genesis (Tumor Viability) - Rs 20500 /- 
• 68 Ga DOTA UBI PET CT for Infection - Rs 10000/- 

For appointments contact : +918592089994 or mail santosh.anthony@molecularglobal.com 

DDNMRC PET Scans Launches PET CT at Trivandrum Kerala India

DDNMRC PET Scans - has launched kerala's fist state 

of the art, High Definition (HD) PET CT KIMS 

Hospital premises at Trivandrum, Kerala, India. 

The centre is operational since - July 2014, and has completed more than 300 plus PET CT scans as on today.

The centre is branded as "KIMS - DDNMRC PET Scans". The DDNMRC Group has also installed a HD - Gamma Camera - for all diagnostic and "Single Photon Emission Tomography" (SPECT - Nuclear Medicine Gamma Camera) in the same hospital premises in 2008.

The KIMS - DDNMRC Nuclear Medicine Centre offers the following services on an appointment basis on all days.

1. 18F-FDG PET CT Whole Body Scan (For)
a) Primary / Pre Therapy Staging of Cancer work up.
b) Post Therapy Evaluation
c) Recurrence Evaluation
d) Evaluation for distant spread to other organs
2. 18F - FDG Brain PET Scan
a) For Epilepsy evaluation in combination with MRI and
SPECT nuclear medicine evaluation using 99m Tc ECD
- Ictal Brain SPECT Imaging.
b) For evaluation of - Psychiatric Disorders like -
Depression, Schizophrenia, Maniac Disorders,
Movement Disorders, in combination with MRI Scans
3. 18F - FDG Cardiac Scans
a) Stress - FDG Cardiac Scans in combination with Rest
99m Tc MIBI / Tetrofosmin cardiac studies for viability /
and inducible ischemia.

The centre is poised to start with 68 Ga - PET Scans for

1. Neuroendocrine Tumor Imaging with DOTA- TOC/ NOC
2. 68 Ga RDG Imaging for vascular neogenesis in tumor
3. 68 Ga Bone Scan - for skeletal scintigraphy
4. 68 Ga UBI imaging for - Infection (Diabetic foot, Prosthesis
Loosening Vs Infection, Fever of unknown origin,
Sarcoidosis imaging, Tuberculosis Imaging.

For further information on all the Molecular Imaging scans / studies conducted at the centre - please mail us at santosh.anthony@molecularglobal.com or call us at +918592089994