PET/CT in Oncology: Integration into Clinical Management of Lymphoma, Melanoma, and Gastrointestinal Malignancies

PET/CT is a new imaging technology that has already found a number of clinical applications in oncologic imaging. Wide-spread introduction into clinical practice started approximately 2.5 years ago. Consequently, the available data are largely preliminary. Nevertheless, it can already be stated that the synthesis of structural and metabolic information improves the accuracy of primary staging and the detection of recurrent disease and has the realistic potential to change patient man-agement in 10 to 20 % of cases. PET/CT fusion images can directly guide biopsies or surgical interventions. This article summarizes preliminary data of PET/CT studies and highlights potential clinical applications for PET/CT, with particular em-phasis on lymphoma, melanoma and gastrointestinal tumors