Published in

MDPI, Cancers, 7(15), p. 2184, 2023

DOI: 10.3390/cancers15072184

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

The Role of Molecular Imaging in Patients with Brain Metastases: A Literature Review

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Over the last several years, molecular imaging has gained a primary role in the evaluation of patients with brain metastases (BM). Therefore, the “Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology” (RANO) group recommends amino acid radiotracers for the assessment of BM. Our review summarizes the current use of positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers in patients with BM, ranging from present to future perspectives with new PET radiotracers, including the role of radiomics and potential theranostics approaches. A comprehensive search of PubMed results was conducted. All studies published in English up to and including December 2022 were reviewed. Current evidence confirms the important role of amino acid PET radiotracers for the delineation of BM extension, for the assessment of response to therapy, and particularly for the differentiation between tumor progression and radionecrosis. The newer radiotracers explore non-invasively different biological tumor processes, although more consistent findings in larger clinical trials are necessary to confirm preliminary results. Our review illustrates the role of molecular imaging in patients with BM. Along with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the gold standard for diagnosis of BM, PET is a useful complementary technique for processes that otherwise cannot be obtained from anatomical MRI alone.