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FDG, MET or CHO? The quest for the optimal PET tracer for glioma imaging continues

Nature Clinical Practice Neurology volume 4, pages 470–471 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

This Practice Point commentary discusses a study by Kato et al. that assessed the usefulness of three PET tracers— 11C-methionine (MET), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose, and 11C-choline—for the metabolic evaluation of gliomas. The authors measured the ratio of tumor uptake to normal brain uptake (T/N ratio), with the frontal cortex as reference region, and analyzed the correlations between tracer uptake and tumor grade, type, and proliferation activity. Whereas all three tracers showed a similar correlation between the T/N ratio and tumor grade in astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors, MET proved to be the most user-friendly marker in all gliomas as it enables the straightforward localization of 'hot lesions' and provides outstanding quantitative metabolic parameters. Here we highlight a few methodological issues arising from Kato et al.'s study and, consequently, we urge the PET community to reach a consensus on an objective approach towards the evaluation of PET tracers in the field of neuro-oncology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, B Gulyás is a Professor and Group Leader at the PET Center in the Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.,

    Balázs Gulyás

  2. I Nyáry is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.,

    István Nyáry

  3. K Borbély is the Head of the Outpatient PET Department at the National Institute of Oncology, Budapest, Hungary.,

    Katalin Borbély

Authors
  1. Balázs Gulyás
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  2. István Nyáry
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  3. Katalin Borbély
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Balázs Gulyás.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Gulyás, B., Nyáry, I. & Borbély, K. FDG, MET or CHO? The quest for the optimal PET tracer for glioma imaging continues. Nat Rev Neurol 4, 470–471 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro0863

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