Joint EANM-SNMMI guidelines on the role of 2-[¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT in no special type breast cancer: differences and agreements with European and American guidelines

Excerpt

Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. Recently, 2-[¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT has become indispensable in the care of patients with BC. In this issue of the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, the Joint EANM-SNMMI guideline on the role of 2-[¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT in no special type breast cancer [1] is published. This is the first guideline with the nuclear medicine societies’ participation in this topic endorsed by the following relevant societies in this field: the American College of Radiology (ACR), the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), the European Society of Breast Imaging/European Society of Radiology (EUSOBI/ESR), and the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA). In these guidelines, updated information about 2-[¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT procedures is summarized, and the current evidence of the role of 2-[¹⁸F]FDG PET/CT in the initial staging, assessment of treatment response, and assessment of recurrence in patients with BC is presented and organized into recommendation boxes (and summarized in Table 5 of the EANM/SNMMI guidelines). All recommendations were scored in terms of level of evidence and grade of recommendation, with a percentage of agreement of at least 85% by a group multidisciplinary team of experts. Finally, other developments and future applications are discussed [1]. …