$^{18}F-FDG-PET/CT$ in Renal Cell Carcinoma

신세포암에서 $^{18}F-FDG-PET/CT$

Renal cell carcinoma is the most common histological type of renal malignancy, predominant in men and the primary treatment modality of this tumor is surgery. The role of diagnostic imaging in the management of this tumor is the evaluation of extent of disease as well as the detection and characterization of renal mass. US has long been a routine screening tool for kidney but tomographic imaging modalities such as CT and MRI begin to be also commonly used these days. On the other hand, the sensitivity of $^{18}F-FDG-PET$ in detection of renal mass is relatively low because of inherent limitation caused by FDG excretion pathway despite avid uptake of FDG to tumor cell per se. Many studies revealed FDG PET scan could play an important role in detection of metastatic lesions although the sensitivity for the detection of primary lesion is not so high. Furthermore, development of PET/CT scanner will make it possible to expand the indication of FDG PET scan in this malignancy.