Dear Molecular Imaging Insider,
The question for today is: Which modality is the most appropriate choice to diagnose suspected local recurrence of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC)? Your choices are FDG-PET/CT or diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI-MRI).
Researchers at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands have a definitive preference after directly comparing the diagnostic accuracy of the two modalities. The winner is revealed in this edition of the Molecular Imaging Insider.
Speaking of FDG-PET/CT, combining metabolic and morphologic data from the hybrid modality can significantly improve the detection of lymph node metastasis in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer before their surgery. French researchers concluded that CT data on the size of the lymph node and maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax) from FDG-PET are the key components to optimize lymph node staging.
Swiss researchers, meanwhile, have shown that machine-learning algorithms can assist fully automated FDG-PET lung cancer detection, even at simulated very low effective radiation doses of 0.11 mSv. The task also can be accomplished with very little penalty to sensitivity and specificity.
France's National Council of Radiology has reacted angrily to a series of negative comments made about the profession by an expert in infectious diseases. The remarks were available in a recent editorial, "Radiology: The French delay," in the weekly political and news magazine Le Point.
Finally, the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) has announced its new executives and board members starting in 2019. The EANM also added the position of scientific liaison officer to its ranks.
We look forward to providing you with the latest research and news from the upcoming ECR 2019 in Vienna and around the world in the Molecular Imaging Community.
