18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

In this narrative review, we assessed the role of F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography/CT (FDG-PET/CT) in preoperative staging and response evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma (MIBC), and to assess its incremental value to contrast-enhanced (CE)CT and MRI in terms of patient management at initial diagnosis and detection of recurrence.

RECENT FINDINGS

A literature search in PubMed yielded 46 original reports, of which 15 compared FDG-PET/CT with CECT and one with MRI. For primary tumor assessment, FDG-PET/CT proved not accurate enough (13 reports; n = 7-70). For lymph node assessment, sensitivity of FDG-PET/CT is superior to CT with comparable specificity in 19 studies (n = 15-233). For detection of distant metastases, data from eight studies (n = 43-79) suggests that FDG-PET/CT is accurate, although comparative studies are lacking. Limited evidence (four studies, n = 19-50) suggests that FDG-PET/CT is not accurate for response evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. FDG-PET/CT incited change(s) in patient management in 18-68% of patients (five reports; n = 57-103). For detection of recurrence, seven studies (n = 29-287) indicated that FDG-PET/CT is accurate.

SUMMARY

Most studies evaluated FDG-PET/CT for lymph node assessment and reported higher sensitivity than CT, with comparable specificity. FDG-PET/CT showed incremental value to CECT for recurrence and often incited change(s) in patient management.