Review Article Positron Emission Tomography for the Response Evaluation following Treatment with Chemotherapy in Patients Affected by Colorectal Liver Metastases: A Selected Review

Copyright © 2015 Alberto Zaniboni et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The aim of the present paper is to review the scientific literature concerning the usefulness of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the evaluation of response to chemotherapy in patients affected by liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Material and Methods. Studies were identified by searching PubMed electronic databases. Both prospective and retrospective studies were included. Information regarding the figure of merit of PET for the evaluation of therapy response was extracted and analyzed. Results. Existing data suggests that 18F-FDGPET/CTmay have an outstanding role in evaluating the response.The sensitivity of PET in detecting therapy response seems to be greater than conventional imaging (CT andMRI). PET/CT response is strictly related to better overall survival and progression-free survival. Conclusions. PET/CT is more than a promising technique to assess the response to chemotherapy in colorectal and liver metastases. However, to be fully validated, this examination needs further studies by recruiting more patients. 1