Neuroendocrine tumor staging with Gallium-(68) positron emission tomography/computed tomography

Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors are very uncommon neoplasms. Most of them are diagnosed in advanced stages. The only complete treatment is surgical resection of the primary tumor, but patients are not often found at initial states. Given that well-differentiated tumors have receptors for somatostatin and over-express predominantly receptor 2, nuclear medicine research has developed specific molecular probes that target these cell receptors and are linked to radiation emitters for proper localization, staging and treatment (radiolabeled somatostatin analogues). Among these, studies using PET-Gallium(68) DOTATATE, DOTATOC or DOTANOC have been established as the most effective imaging diagnostic tool, due to its high ability to detect both the primary tumor and metastases. (c) 2013 Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.