PET is a powerful molecular imaging procedure that uses very small amounts of radioactive materials that are targeted to specific organs, bones or tissues. When PET is used to image cancer, a radiopharmaceutical (such as FDG, which includes both a sugar and a radionuclide) is injected into a patient. Cancer cells metabolize sugar at higher rates than normal cells, and the radiopharmaceutical is drawn in higher amounts to cancerous areas. PET scans show where FDG is by tracking the gamma rays given off by the radionuclide tagging the drug and producing three-dimensional images of their distribution within the body. PET scanning provides information about the body's chemistry, metabolic activity and body function.

"Early 18F-FDG PET for Prediction of Prognosis in Patients With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: SUV-Based Assessment Versus Visual Analysis" appears in the October issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, which is published by SNM, the world's largest molecular imaging and nuclear medicine society. Additional co-authors include Chieh Lin, Alain Luciani and Alain Rahmouni, Department of Radiology; Emmanuel Itti and Gaetano Paone, Department of Nuclear Medicine; and Corinne Haioun and Jehan Dupuis, Department of Hematology, all at Henri Mondor Hospital in Creteil, France; and Yolande Petegnief and Jean-Noel Talbot, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Tenon Hospital in Paris, France.


Citation: "Early 18F-FDG PET for Prediction of Prognosis in Patients With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma: SUV-Based Assessment Versus Visual Analysis." Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Oct. 2007.

About SNM-Advancing Molecular Imaging and Therapy
SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular and nuclear imaging to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed journal in the field (Journal of Nuclear Medicine); host the premier annual meeting for medical imaging; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances. SNM members have introduced-and continue to explore-biological and technological innovations in medicine that noninvasively investigate the molecular basis of diseases, benefiting countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at http://www.snm.org.

Back to HCB News

More Industry Headlines