Neuroendocrine tumors (NENs) are tumors derived from neuroendocrine cells and are commonly found in the pancreas, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and other tissues. Traditional imaging methods such as CT and MRI have certain limitations in the diagnosis of NENs, and can not provide information about the metabolic activity of tissues. Molecular imaging techniques, particularly positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), are able to provide biological information about tumor metabolism, providing more comprehensive information for the diagnosis and treatment of NENs.
Objective
The aim of this study was to compare and evaluate the diagnostic performance of 18F-AlF-octreotide and 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NENs) and the effect of different tumor grades on imaging agent uptake.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 19 patients with NENs, in which 18F-AlF-octreotide and 18F-FDG PET/CT were used for imaging. The performance of the two imaging agents was evaluated by extracting or calculating the corresponding metabolic parameters and stratifying the patients with different grades.
Results
There were significant differences in metabolic parameters such as TSR, SUVmax, SUVmean and SULmax between the two imaging agents (P < 0.05), but the differences in other indicators were not statistically significant. For patients with different grades of NENs, 18F-AlF-octreotide showed higher sensitivity in G1 and G2 grades, while 18F-FDG showed better performance in G3 grades.
Conclusion
The results of this study indicate that 18F-AlF-octreotide and 18F-FDG PET/CT have different diagnostic manifestations according to different grades of NENs patients. In clinical practice, the heterogeneity of patients should be considered comprehensively, and appropriate imaging agents should be selected for diagnosis to improve the accuracy of NENs and the guidance of personalized treatment.