Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
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Comparative Study
Prognostic impact of postoperative, pre-irradiation (18)F-fluoroethyl-l-tyrosine uptake in glioblastoma patients treated with radiochemotherapy.
Resection is considered as essential for the efficacy of modern adjuvant treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Previous studies have indicated that amino acid PET is more specific than contrast enhancement on MRI for detecting residual tumor tissue after surgery. In a prospective study we investigated the prognostic impact of postoperative tumor volume and tumor/brain ratios (TBR) in PET using O-(2-[(18)F]fluoroethyl)-l-tyrosine (FET) in comparison with MRI. ⋯ Our data indicate that the tumor volume in FET PET after surgery of GBM has a strong prognostic impact for these patients. FET PET appears to be helpful to determine the residual tumor volume after surgery of GBM and may serve as a valuable tool for optimal planning of radiation treatment.