Title:18F-DOPA and 18F-FDG PET/CT, Scintigraphic Localization and Radioguided Surgery of Recurrent Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Two Case Reports
Volume: 7
Issue: 2
Author(s): Laura Evangelista, Mohsen Farsad, Andrea Piotto and Maria R. Pelizzo
Affiliation:
Keywords:
18F-DOPA PET/CT, 18F-FDG PET/CT, 99mTc-sestamibi, medullary thyroid cancer, radio-guided surgery,
recurrence.
Abstract: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is considered as a rare thyroid cancer. Surgical approaches such as, total thyroidectomy
and bilateral lymph node dissection, represent the first-line treatment. Persistent or increasing serum levels of
tumor markers, such as CEA and calcitonin, imply residual or recurrent disease. An early and precise detection of recurrence
is very important for guiding appropriate treatment. Recent developments in positron emission tomography (PET)
imaging with different radiopharmaceuticals targeting specific hallmark of MTC, such as 18F-DOPA and 18F-FDG, have
offered increased sensitivity for identifying recurrences. Moreover, the ability of conventional scintigraphic imaging to
guide the surgical approach can be useful for the treatment of MTC recurrent patients. In the present work, we reported
two cases of patients with recurrent MTC sending to surgical treatment guided by “nuclear medicine approaches”.
