¹⁸F-DOPA and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT, Scintigraphic Localization and Radioguided Surgery of Recurrent Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Two Case Reports

Title:¹⁸F-DOPA and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT, Scintigraphic Localization and Radioguided Surgery of Recurrent Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Two Case Reports

Volume: 7 Issue: 2

Author(s): Laura Evangelista, Mohsen Farsad, Andrea Piotto and Maria R. Pelizzo

Affiliation:

Keywords: 18F-DOPA PET/CT, 18F-FDG PET/CT, 99mTc-sestamibi, medullary thyroid cancer, radio-guided surgery, recurrence.

Abstract: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is considered as a rare thyroid cancer. Surgical approaches such as, total thyroidectomy and bilateral lymph node dissection, represent the first-line treatment. Persistent or increasing serum levels of tumor markers, such as CEA and calcitonin, imply residual or recurrent disease. An early and precise detection of recurrence is very important for guiding appropriate treatment. Recent developments in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with different radiopharmaceuticals targeting specific hallmark of MTC, such as 18F-DOPA and 18F-FDG, have offered increased sensitivity for identifying recurrences. Moreover, the ability of conventional scintigraphic imaging to guide the surgical approach can be useful for the treatment of MTC recurrent patients. In the present work, we reported two cases of patients with recurrent MTC sending to surgical treatment guided by “nuclear medicine approaches”.

Cite this article as:

Evangelista Laura, Farsad Mohsen, Piotto Andrea and Pelizzo R. Maria, ¹⁸F-DOPA and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT, Scintigraphic Localization and Radioguided Surgery of Recurrent Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Two Case Reports, Current Radiopharmaceuticals 2014; 7 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874471007666141027151130