Utilidad de la tomografía por emisión de positrones/tomografía computada (PET/CT) en pacientes con diagnóstico de meduloblastoma

Abstract

"PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography, for its acronym in English) is a unique imaging method that provides in vivo evidence of both biochemical and physiological activities of the brain, spinal cord and tumors that involve these structures. Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant tumor of the central nervous system (CNS) in pediatric patients, so PET/CT plays an important role as it provides information on the grade and extent of the tumor as well as to determine the appropriate site for the biopsy, assessing the response to the treatment and the patient’s prognosis. There are different radiopharmaceuticals for the evaluation of central nervous system tumors, but 18F FDG (Fluor-2-fluoro-2-desoxy-D-glucose) and 68Ga-DOTA-NOC (68Ga-DOTA0-1NaI3-octreotide) have been studied to help us evaluate and follow up patients diagnosed with medulloblastoma. Medulloblastoma has an overexpression of glucose transporters, mainly type 1, and an overexpression of predominantly type 2 somatostatin receptors, which allows a high affinity for these radiopharmaceuticals. Key words: Medulloblastoma; positron emission tomography; PET/C; 18F-FDG; 68Ga-DOTA-NOC; brain tumor.