PET scanning in lung cancer: current status and future directions.

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) represents a dramatic advance in the imaging of lung cancer. It is valuable for the diagnosis, staging, prognosis, and restaging of disease, and is most useful in patients considered for potentially curative therapy for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this work the current status and potential future applications of PET scanning in lung cancer are discussed. The relevant literature is also discussed, with an emphasis on studies with clinical applicability. Most of these studies involved the use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Numerous studies of the use of PET to assess undiagnosed pulmonary nodules have reported significant improvements in accurate..