Clinical Value of Pet with 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose and L-Methyl- 11 C-Methionine for Diagnosis of Recurrent Brain Tumor and Radiation Injury

Abstract

We studied 15 patients clinically suspected to have recurrent brain tumor or radiation injury, using positron emission tomography (PET) with ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸FDG) and L-methyl-¹¹C-methionine (¹¹C-Met). PET with ¹¹C-Met (Met-PET) clearly delineated the extent of recurrent brain tumor as focal areas of increased accumulation of ¹¹C-Met, and was useful for early detection of recurrent brain tumor. PET with ¹⁸FDG (FDG-PET) showed focal ¹⁸FDG-hypermetabolism in one patient with malignant transformation of low grade glioma, and demonstrated its usefulness for evaluation of malignant transformation. ¹⁸FDG-hypometabolism was observed in all patients with radiation injury, but was also found in one patient with recurrent malignant brain tumor. ¹¹C-Met uptake in 3 patients with radiation injury was similar to that of the normal cortical tissue. FDG-PET can be used to initially exclude recurrent brain tumor which is seen as ¹⁸FDG-hypermetabolism. The combined use of Met-PET in addition to FDG-PET can improve the accuracy of differentiation of recurrent brain tumor with ¹⁸FDG-hypometabolism from radiation injury.

Keywords

Brain neoplasms diagnosis CT PET studies recurrence radiations injurious effects

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