Value of PET/CT in the Management of Liver Metastases, Part 1

OBJECTIVE. Metastasis is the most common (95%) of liver lesions. Early diagnosis and staging are the keys to treatment planning and prognosis. There is a consistent benefit to the use of PET/CT for detecting hepatic, local, and distant metastases from a variety of primary malignancies, which can contribute to staging and ultimately helps to establish the best course of treatment and to determine prognosis. CONCLUSION. For colorectal cancer, FDG PET and FDG PET/CT are particularly effective for identification of additional hepatic and extrahepatic metastases, frequently upstaging the tumor stage and affecting management. In addition, PET/CT is very useful in local ablative and systemic therapy assessment and surveillance for liver metastases.