La PET-TAC 18F-FDG en la planificación de radioterapia en cáncer de pulmón: impacto sobre la actitud diagnóstico-terapéutica. Estudio en nuestro medio

Abstract

In the Western world, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death. It is usually presented as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for 85% of all lung cancers. FDG PET/CT has an established role in the staging and management of NSCLC and also plays an increasingly important role in radiotherapy planning. Currently about half of the patients diagnosed with malignancy are subjected to a radiation treatment, alone or in combination with another treatment. To define the volumes of treatment, CT is the standard diagnostic test. A precise definition of tumour volume to be irradiated is a prerequisite for successful radiotherapy. For all these reasons it is important for the radiation oncologist to have the availability of molecular imaging methods. PET has the potential to provide this type of information, which has led to the definition of a new concept, the biological target volume (BTV) added to classic radiotherapy and volumes defined by the currently used ICRU 50- 62 and 83...