Clinical Application of 18F-FDG PET in Breast Cancer

Abstract

18F-FDG PET in combination with conventional imaging modalities could help avoid unnecessary biopsy for the

primary mass, and it also has a high diagnostic accuracy in patients with dense breasts. In the assessment of

metastasis, 18F-FDG PET was useful to select patients who required sentinel lymph node biopsy and to detect

extra-axillary lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis. To increase the sensitivity for osteoblastic bone

metastasis, bone scintigraphy should be added. In the detection of recurrence, 18F-FDG PET showed a higher

diagnostic accuracy than tumor marker or computed tomography, and therefore it can be used in routine breast

cancer follow-up. 18F-FDG PET has been reported that it correctly predicted the response of neoadjuvant

chemotherapy on as early as 8th day of treatment. Therefore, it is useful for the early detect of therapeutic

response in advanced breast cancer.