• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2007

Purpose: Metastatic thyroid cancers with I-131 uptake have been known to show no increase of FDG uptake whereas those without I-131 uptake tend to demonstrate increased uptake on PET. In this study, we evaluated the degree of FDG uptake in primary thyroid cancers of papillary histology before surgery. Material & Methods: Forty FDG PET studies were performed on the patients who had papillary cancer proven by fine needle aspiration. The degree of FDG uptake was visually categorized as positive or negative (positive if the tumor showed discernible FDG; negative if the tumor didn't) and the peak standard uptake value (peak SUV) of the papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) were compared with the size of PTC. Results: The mean size of 26 PTC with positive FDG uptake was $1.9{\pm}1.4\;cm(0.5{\sim}5\;cm)$. In 13 PTC with negative FDG uptake, the mean size of those was $0.5{\pm}0.2\;cm\;(0.2{\sim}0.9\;cm)$. All PTC larger than 1cm ($2.5{\pm}1.4\;cm,\;1{\sim}5\;cm$) have positive FDG uptake (peak $SUV=6.4{\pm}5.7,\;1.7{\sim}22.7$). Among the micropapillary thyroid cancer (microPTC; PTC smaller than 1cm), 8 microPTC show positive FDG uptake(peak $SUV=2.9{\pm}1.3,\;1.7{\sim}5.5$), while 13 microPTC show negative finding(peak $SUV=1.3{\pm}0.2,\;1.1{\sim}1.7$). The size of microPTC with positive FDG uptake is significantly larger than that of microPTC with negative FDG uptake ($0.7{\pm}0.1\;cm$ vs $0.4{\pm}0.2\;cm$, p=0.01). Conclusion: All PTCs larger than 1cm show positive FDG uptake in our study. In other words, thyroid lesions larger than 1cm with negative FDG uptake are unlikely to be PTC. So far, only poorly differentiated thyroid cancers are known to show increased FDG uptake. Our results seem to be contradictory to what is known in the literature. Further study is needed to understand better the significance of increased FDG uptake in PTC in relation to expression of NIS and GLUT.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.66-70
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• 2008

Reports about FDG PET in biliary tumor are limited and there are almost no reports regarding its efficacy. Biliary tumor is divided to intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile duct cancer, and intrahepatic bile duct cancer can be further divided to peripheral type which occurs at lobular duct and hilar type which occurs at hepatic hilum. Surgical resection is the only curative method for bile duct tumor, and accurate staging plays an important role in deciding treatment modality. Among intrahepatic bile duct tumors, peripheral type and hilar type have the same histological characteristics, but different clinical manifestations and tumor growth pattern. On PET image, FDG uptake is also different between peripheral type and hilar type. Most of the former shows high FDG uptake at primary and metastasis site so it is very useful for determining stage and changing treatment plans. However, the later is diversified among low uptake and very high uptake. The FDG uptake pattern of hilar type is similar to that of extrahepatic bile duct cancer, and mucinous component is an important factor, which affects FOG uptake. When tumor cells are scattered in desmoplatsic stroma, then FDG uptake is low as well. In contrast, when FDG uptake is high, it is likely to be tubular type which has high tumor density. Tumor growth pattern also affects FDG uptake. Nodular type mostly takes higher FDG compared to infiltrative type. There are many cases where benign inflammatory diseases take high FDG that PET alone can not distinguish malignant lesion from benign lesion. In conclusion, studies about PET using FDG are still limited. Thus, it is hard to make accurate conclusion about the roles of PET or PET/CT in biliary cancers, but peripheral type intrahepatic bile duct cancers and mass forming hilar and extrahepatic bile duct cancers appear to be good indications performing FDG PET or PET/CT.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.212-213
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• 2005

A 42 years old woman underwent F-18 FDG PET because of the incidentally detected lung mass on chest X-ray. PET/CT showed hypermetabolic lesion in the lung right upper lobe and the lung cancer was suspected because of the high FDG uptake. However, pathologic diagnosis was sclerosing hemangioma. There are few reports on the evaluation of sclerosing hemangioma using FDG PET. A report showed a slightly increased uptake (standardized uptake ratio of 1.8) (1), and another report showed unsatisfactory result (2). We suggest that sclerosing hemangioma could be seen as hypermetabolic lesion on the FDG PET.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.233-236
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• 2006

A 67-year-old man with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) underwent F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for staging of gastric cancer. The projection images of F-18 FDG PET/CT showed intensely increased F-18 FDG uptake in the anterior neck, chest wall, and upper abdomen. We suspected distant metastases of cervical lymph nodes, ribs, and peritoneum in gastric canter. However, the transaxial images of F-18 FDG PET/CT showed abnormal F-18 FDG uptake in scalene muscles of anterior neck, intercostal muscles of chest wall, and diaphragm of upper abdomen. Patients with COPD use respiratory muscles extensively on the resting condition. These excessive physiologic use of respiratory muscles causes increased F-18 FDG uptake as a result of increased glucose metabolism. The F-18 FDG uptake in respiratory muscles of gastric cancer patient with COPD mimicked distant metastases in cervical lymph nodes, ribs, and peritoneum.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.243-248
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• 2006

Purpose: Liver demonstrates heterogeneous FDG uptake and sometimes it shows abnormally increased uptake even though there is no malignant tissue. However, there was no previous study to correlate these various pattern of hepatic FDG uptake with benign liver disease. Therefore, we evaluated the significance of hepatic FDG uptake associated with various clinical factors including fatty liver, liver function tests and lipid profiles. Materials and Methods: We reviewed a total of 188 patients (male/female: 120/68, mean age: $50{\pm}9$) who underwent PET/CT for screening of malignancy. Patients with DM, impaired glucose tolerance, previous severe hepatic disease or long-term medication history were excluded. The FDG uptake in liver was analyzed semi-quantitatively using ROI on transaxial images (segment 8) and we compared mean standardized uptake value (SUV) between fatty liver and non-fatty liver group. We also evaluated the correlation between hepatic FDG uptake and various clinical factors including serum liver function test (ALT, AST), ${\gamma}-GT$, total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration. The effect of alcoholic history and body mass index on hepatic FDG uptake was analyzed within the fatty liver patients. Results: The hepatic FDG uptake of fatty liver group was significantly higher than that of non-fatty liver group. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration showed significant correlation with hepatic FDG uptake. However, there was no significant correlation between other factors (ALT, AST, and ${\gamma}-GT$) and FDG uptake. Also there was no difference of mean SUV between normal and abnormal groups on the basis of alcoholic history and body mass Index within fatty liver patients. Fatty liver and high serum triglyceride concentration were the independent factors affecting hepatic FDG uptake according to multivariate analysis. Conclusion: In conclusion, hepatic FDG uptake was strongly correlated with fatty liver and serum triglyceride concentration.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.79-80
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• 2008

Including malignancy, various disease can show abnormal uptake in bone marrow. We report a case of non-specific inflammatory FDG uptake in bone marrow mimicking malignancy. A 35-year old woman with fever of unknown origin (FUO) underwent $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT to find out fever $^{18}F$-FDG and unknown malignancy. $^{18}F$-FDG was injected and imaged 1hr after injection with Discovery ST (GE, USA), $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT whole body image showed abnormal uptake in lower extremities (Fig. 1). MRI and biopsy was also done in the sites of abnormal uptake. PET and MRI suspect malignancy (Fig. 2, 3), but biopsy result was non-specific inflammatory process (Fig. 4). The patient was improved her clinical condition after antibiotics therapy.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.519-525
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• 2009

Purpose: F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake of myocardium is influenced by various factors. Increased glycolysis, and subsequent increased F-18 FDG uptake has been reported in ischemic cardiomyopathy. However, clinical significance of incidentally found myocardial F-18 FDG uptake has not been clarified. We retrospectively reviewed the degree and pattern of myocardial uptake in patients without history of ischemic heart disease who underwent torso F-18 FDG PET/CT for evaluation of neoplastic disease. Materials and Methods: From January 2005 to June 2009, 77 patients who underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT and Tc-99m sestamibi stress/rest SPECT within 3 months were enrolled. Results: Of 77 patients, 55 (71.4%) showed increased F-18 FDG uptake in the myocardium. In this population, 40 showed uniform uptake pattern, while 15 showed focal uptake. In patients with uniform uptake, 17 showed decreased uptake in the septum without perfusion defect on myocardial SPECT. Remaining 23 patients showed uniform uptake, with 1 reversible perfusion defect and 1 fixed perfusion defect. In 15 patients with focal uptake, 9 showed increased F-18 FDG uptake in the base, and only 1 of them showed reversible perfusion defect on myocardial SPECT. In the remaining 6 focal uptake group, 4 had reversible perfusion defect in the corresponding wall, and 1 had apical hypertrophy. Conclusion: We demonstrated that septal defect pattern and basal uptake pattern in the myocardium may represent normal variants. Focal myocardial uptake other than normal variants on oncologic torso F-18 FDG PET/CT with routine fasting protocol may suggest ischemic heart disease, thus further evaluation is warranted.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.198-207
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• 2007

[ $^{18}F$ ]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron emission tomography (PET) scan has been found to reflect tumor aggressiveness and prognosis in various types of cancer. In this study, the gene expression profiles of glial tumors were evaluated to determine whether glial tumors with high $^{18}F$-FDG uptake have more aggressive biological potential than with low uptake. Surgical specimens were obtained from the 12 patients with glial tumors (4 males and 8 females, age range 42-68 years). The tumor samples were divided into two groups based on the $^{18}F$-FDG uptake PET scan findings: high $^{18}F$-FDG uptake (n=4) and low $^{18}F$-FDG uptake (n=8). The pathological tumor grade was closely correlated with the $^{18}F$-FDG uptake pattern: Glial tumors with high $^{18}F$-FDG uptake were pathologically Edmondson-Steiner grade III, while those with low uptake were grade II. The total RNA was extracted from the frozen tissues of all glial tumors (n=12), and adjacent non-cancerous tissue (n=3). The gene expression profiles were evaluated using cDNA microarray. The glial tumors with high $^{18}F$-FDG uptake showed increase expression of 15 genes compared to those with low uptake (P<0.005). Nine genes were down-regulated. Gene expression is closely related to cell survival, cell-to-cell adhesion or cell spreading; therefore, glial tumors with high $^{18}F$-FDG uptake appear to have more aggressive biological properties than those with low uptake.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2007

While respiratory burst enhances neutrophil glucose utilization, many neutrophil functions are critically influenced by extracellular matrix interaction and phosphoinositide-3-OH kinase (PI3K) signaling. We thus evaluated the role of RGD integrin occupancy and PI3K inhibition on respiratory burst and [18F]FDG uptake of stimulated neutrophils. Human neutrophils were stimulated by 100 ng/mL phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA), and respiratory burst was measured by cumulative luminescence with lucigenin. [18F]FDG uptake and total hexokinase activity was measured 20 min after PMA stimulation in the presence or absence of soluble RGD peptides (200 g/mL) and/or the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin (200 nM). PMA induced a 71.70.9 fold increase in neutrophil oxygen intermediate generation. [18F]FDG uptake was increased to $194.6{\pm} 3.7%$ and hexokinase activity to $145.0{\pm}2.0%$ of basal levels (both p<0.0005). RGD peptides attenuated respiratory burst activation to $35.6{\pm}0.2%$ (p<0.005), but did not inhibit stimulated [18F]FDG uptake or hexokinase activity. In contrast, without affecting respiratory burst activation, wortmannin inhibited PMA stimulated [18F]FDG uptake to $66.9{\pm}1.6%$ and hexokinase activity to $81.0{\pm}4.2%$ (both P<0.0005), demonstrating its dependence on PI3K activity. Neither RGD nor wortmannin reversed the other's inhibitory effect on stimulated [18F]FDG uptake and hexokinase activity or respiratory burst, which suggests the involvement of distinct signaling pathways. Neutrophil [18F]FDG uptake is enhanced by PMA through a mechanism that requires PI3K activity but is independent of integrin receptor occupancy or respiratory burst activation.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.309-316
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• 2009

Purpose: F-18 FDG can be accumulated in the liver, bowel, kidney, urinary tract, and muscles physiologically. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of dual time point 18F-FDG PET /8 imaging for the differentiation of the colonic focal uptake lesions. Materials and Methods: One hundred thirty two patients (M:F = 77:55, Age 62.8$\pm$11.6 years) underwent $^{18}$F-FDG PET/CT at two time points, prospectively: early image at 50-60 min and delayed image at 4-4.5 hours after the intravenous injection of $^{18}$F-FDG. Focally increased uptake lesions on early images but disappeared or shifted on delayed images defined a physiological uptake. For the differential evaluation of persistent focal uptake lesions on delayed images, colonoscopy and histopathologic examination were performed. SUVmax changes between early and delayed images were also compared. Results: Among the 132 patients, 153 lesions of focal colonic uptake were detected on early images of $^{18}$F-FDG PET/CT. Of these, 72 (47.1%) lesions were able to judge with physiological uptake because the focal increased uptake disappeared from delayed image. Among 81 lesions which was showed persistent increased uptake in delayed image, 61 (75.3%) lesions were confirmed as the malignant tumor and 14 (17.3%) lesions were confirmed as the benign lesions including adenoma and inflammatory disease. Remaining 6 (7.4%) lesions were confirmed as the physiological uptake because there was no particular lesion in the colonoscopy. In the malignant lesions, the calculated dual time point change for SUVmax ($\Delta$%SUVmax) was 20.8$\pm$18.7%, indicating a significant increase in SUVmax between the two point (p<0.01). In contrast, the change in SUVmax for the non-malignant lesions including benign lesions and physiological uptake was -13.7%$\pm$24.2%. For the differentiation of the malignant and non-malignant focal colonic uptake lesions, $\Delta$%SUVmax was the most effective parameter, and the cut-off value using -5% provided the best sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. Conclusion: The dual time point $^{18}$F-FDG PET/CT imaging with SUVmax change evaluation could be an important noninvasive method for the differentiation of malignant and benign focal colonic uptake lesions including physiologic uptake.