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Review
. 2023 Feb 6;13(4):597.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13040597.

The Role of PET/CT in Breast Cancer

Bawinile Hadebe  1   2 , Lerwine Harry  1   2 , Tasmeera Ebrahim  1   2 , Venesen Pillay  1   2 , Mariza Vorster  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The Role of PET/CT in Breast Cancer

Bawinile Hadebe et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Female breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, with an estimated 2.3 million new cases (11.7%), followed by lung cancer (11.4%) The current literature and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines state that 18F-FDG PET/CT is not routine for early diagnosis of breast cancer, and rather PET/CT scanning should be performed for patients with stage III disease or when conventional staging studies yield non-diagnostic or suspicious results because this modality has been shown to upstage patients compared to conventional imaging and thus has an impact on disease management and prognosis. Furthermore, with the growing interest in precision therapy in breast cancer, numerous novel radiopharmaceuticals have been developed that target tumor biology and have the potential to non-invasively guide the most appropriate targeted therapy. This review discusses the role of 18F-FDG PET and other PET tracers beyond FDG in breast cancer imaging.

Keywords: PET; breast cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Describes the proposed approach to breast cancer imaging.
Figure 2
Figure 2
62-year-old female with locally advanced triple negative infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the left breast, post four cycles of chemotherapy. 68Ga-FAPI PET demonstrated heterogeneous uptake in the breast primary with tracer-avid shoulder involvement. Images provided by Dr. Janet Reed, Steve Biko Hospital, Pretoria.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A 39-year-old woman with stage IV breast cancer underwent 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT. The Maximum intensity projection PET demonstrated multiple osseous metastases and primary right breast cancer. Axial and sagittal fused PET/CT confirms the 68Ga-PSMA avid lesions in the right breast, sternum, and right iliac bone. Images reproduced with permission from [56]; published by Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging, 2017.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A 74-year-old female with triple-negative breast cancer underwent 68Ga-Pentixafor PET/CT. The images demonstrate inhomogeneous CXCR4 receptor expression in the primary lesion in the right breast as well as right axillary lymph nodes.
Figure 5
Figure 5
A 39-year-old female with right breast invasive ductal carcinoma, PR negative and ER positive. She underwent a mastectomy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy and was referred for a restaging PET/CT. 68Ga-DOTATATE imaging demonstrated metastatic involvement of the mediastinal- and axillary lymph nodes, lungs, liver- and skeletal system. Images provided by Dr. Janet Reed, Steve Biko Hospital, Pretoria.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Shows the various PET tracers that target breast cancer and their site of action on the tumor cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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