Monitoring treatment response in cancer and benign disorders: the promise of positron emission tomography with (18F)2-fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG-PET)

FDG-PET has demonstrated great potential for determining the effects of therapy in a wide variety of malignancies and benign disorders. In fact, this has become one of the central indications for this modality to be routinely employed in the current clinical oncology practice, both in neoadjuvant as well as adjuvant therapy setting. There is now mounting evidence that this promising modality would replace the traditional radiological assessment of 'response-to-treatment' in clinical trials in oncology by the WHO or the RECIST criteria that is, presently, primarily based upon CT or MRI. In this communication, we highlight the role of FDG-PET imaging for monitoring therapeutic efficacy in various disorders. The case vignettes illustrated in the present communication demonstrate the utility of FDG-PET in the treatment monitoring scenario, based upon the experience at our Centre