Topic Highlight
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 28, 2014; 20(16): 4574-4585
Published online Apr 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i16.4574
Diagnosis and evaluation of gastric cancer by positron emission tomography
Chen-Xi Wu, Zhao-Hui Zhu
Chen-Xi Wu, Zhao-Hui Zhu, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Author contributions: Wu CX and Zhu ZH wrote and edited the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Zhao-Hui Zhu, MD, PhD, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, No. 1 Shuaifuyuan, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100730, China. zhuzhh@pumch.cn
Telephone: +86-10-69154196 Fax: +86-10-65124875
Received: October 29, 2013
Revised: December 18, 2013
Accepted: January 14, 2014
Published online: April 28, 2014
Abstract

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The diagnosis of gastric cancer has been significantly improved with the broad availability of gastrointestinal endoscopy. Effective technologies for accurate staging and quantitative evaluation are still in demand to merit reasonable treatment and better prognosis for the patients presented with advanced disease. Preoperative staging using conventional imaging tools, such as computed tomography (CT) and endoscopic ultrasonography, is inadequate. Positron emission tomography (PET), using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) as a tracer and integrating CT for anatomic localization, holds a promise to detect unsuspected metastasis and has been extensively used in a variety of malignancies. However, the value of FDG PET/CT in diagnosis and evaluation of gastric cancer is still controversial. This article reviews the current literature in diagnosis, staging, response evaluation, and relapse monitoring of gastric cancer, and discusses the current understanding, improvement, and future prospects in this area.

Keywords: Gastric cancer, Positron emission tomography/computed tomography, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose

Core tip: This systematic review summarizes and discusses various aspects regarding positron emission tomography (PET), and PET/computed tomography application in gastric cancer, including diagnosis and its influencing factors, therapy evaluation, recurrence detection, current limitations and improvement, and so on.