Impact of PET/CT on radiation treatment in patients with esophageal cancer : a systematic review
A partir d'une revue systématique de la littérature, cette étude analyse le rôle d'une tomographie numérique à émission de positrons dans la stadification et le traitement par radiothérapie d'un cancer de l'œsophage
Purpose : With the advances in radiotracers, positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is recognized as a useful adjunct to anatomic imaging with CT, MRI and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS).The objective of this review was to comprehensively analyze the roles of PET/CT for the radiotherapy of esophageal cancer.
Methods : In this review, we focused on issues concerning the application of PET/CT in TNM staging, target volume delineation and response to therapy, both for the primary tumor and regional lymph nodes. Furthermore, the following questions were addressed: how does PET/CT guide appropriate treatment protocols, how does it allow accurate tumor delineation and how does it guide prognosis and future treatment decisions.
Results and Conclusion : For the staging of esophageal cancer, PET/CT played a crucial role in exploring distant malignant lymph nodes and metastasis with high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. PET/CT using different radiotracer provided a serial of thresholding methods based on standardized uptake value (SUV) to assist in auto-contouring the gross tumor volume (GTV). The change in SUV may offer a potential paradigm of personalized treatment to definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT). In total, PET/CT has sought to further optimize radiotherapy treatment planning for patients with esophageal cancer.
Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology , résumé, 2015