$^{18}F-FDG-PET/CT$ in Prostate Cancer

전립선암에서 $^{18}F-FDG-PET/CT$

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death of men in western countries and the death related to this disease in Korea is also getting increased. Although anatomic imaging tools such as transrectal US or MRI have been playing a great role in detection of primary prostate lesion, the evaluation of regional lymph node or distant organ metastasis using these modalities is not successful. $^{18}F-FDG-PET$ scan is emerging diagnostic tool for various malignancies. Considering the usual characteristics of prostate cancer such as slow growing and osteoblastic metastasis, the application of FDG PET scan to this disease might be limited. However, in advanced prostate cancer refractory to chemotherapy, FDG PET scan show strong FDG uptake and SUV changes in serial PET scan can be a good indicator of treatment response. Although FDG PET can be useful only in limited cases of prostate cancer, its indication can be widened in future owing to rapid technical improvement and accumulated experiences in this field.