The Role of 18F-FDG PET Imaging in Upper Gastrointestinal Malignancies

Cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract form a prevalent and highly morbid group of malignancies. Specifically, median survival for patients with esophagus, gastric, and pancreatic cancers is less than 1 year, and although there has been progress in therapeutic strategies, the vast majority of newly diagnosed patients with these cancers will die of their disease. F-18-FDG PET ((18)f-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) is a useful but underutilized resource for identifying metastatic disease in the upper gastrointestinal tract. While prevalent in the United States, worldwide, F-18-FDG PET is underutilized especially in countries with a growing emergence of gastroesophageal cancers, despite evidence of clear benefit in cancer staging, and in some cases response assessment and surveillance.