Functional localisation and scintigraphy in neuroendocrine tumours of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas (GEP-NETs)

Forpatientswithneuroendocrine tumours (NETs)of thegastrointestinal tract andpancreas (GEP) (GEP-NETs),excellent careshould ideally be provided by a multidisciplinary team of skilled health care professionals. In these patients, a combination of nuclear medicine imaging and conventional radiological imaging techniques is usually mandatory for primary tumour visualisation, tumour staging and evaluation of treatment. In specific cases, as in patients with occult insulinomas, sampling procedures can provide a clue as towhere to localise the insulin-hypersecreting pancreatic NETs. Recent developments in these fields have led to an increase in the detection rate of primary GEP-NETs and their metastatic deposits. Radiopharmaceuticals targeted at specific tumour cell properties and processes can be used to provide sensitive and specific whole-body imaging. Functional imaging also allows for patient selection for receptor-based therapies and prediction of the efficacy of such therapies. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (CT) and single-photon emission CT/CT are used tomap functional images with anatomical localisations.As a result, tumour imaging and tumour follow-up strategies can be optimised for every individualGEP-NET patient. In some cases, functional imaging might give indications with regard to future tumour behaviour and prognosis.

• View at Publisher
• View at Pubmed
• View at Scopus
• View at Web of Science