THE CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (SPECT/CT) IN ONCOLOGY

ABSTRACT

The accurate evaluation of a tumor’s stage is one of the most important steps for successful treatment. Radionuclide imaging, now widely used, is useful because it may reflect not only morphological characteristics but also metabolic activities. Conventional imaging techniques can provide anatomical information, necessary for the accurate detection and localization of structural and morphological abnormalities. However, it does not reflect the functional or metabolic status of a tumor. By contrast, the high sensitivity of the Nuclear Medicine techniques lack the necessary anatomic information. Therefore, both techniques will complement each other. In evaluation of disease, fusion of the anatomical and functional imaging presented by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and computed tomography (CT) has been shown to improve diagnostic accuracy by enabling better localization and definition of organs and lesions. Technical developments have led to the development of better software techniques for image fusion and to the development of SPECT/CT systems. The advantages of combining SPECT with CT are numerous and are primarily due to the anatomic referencing and the attenuation correction capabilities of CT. This article describes recent advanced and clinical applications of SPECT/CT imaging in tumor imaging.