THE USE OF PET/CT TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DRUG THERAPY FOR DISSEMINATED BREAST CANCER
Abstract
Annotatsion. Our data suggest that a whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT mammography protocol may be used for staging breast cancer in a single session. This initial assessment of the 18F-FDG PET/CT protocol indicates similar accuracy to MRI for the detection of breast cancer lesions. Although MRI seems to be more accurate when assessing the T stage of the tumor, 18F-FDG PET/CT seems able to more accurately define lesion focality. Although 18F-FDG PET/CT mammography was able to detect axillary lymph node metastases with a high sensitivity, this method cannot soon be expected to replace the combination of clinical examination, ultrasound, and sentinel lymph node biopsy for axillary assessment. Drug therapy remains the main method of complex treatment at these stages. Positron emission tomography (PET) with fluorodeoxyglucose has now been used to assess the effect of the treatment. This method makes it possible to assess changes in the tumor at the cellular level long before morphological manifestations. Thus, a decrease in the accumulation of fluorodeoxyglucose in the tumor by more than 45% of the initial one predicts a complete pathomorphological response to drug therapy with great accuracy.