Positron Emission Tomography in the Diagnosis and Staging of Urinary Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Purpose: Evaluation of positron emission tomography (PET) using ¹⁸F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (¹⁸FDG) and L-methyl-¹¹C-methionine in the diagnosis and staging of urinary bladder carcinoma.

Material and Methods: Twenty-three patients with biopsy-proven urinary bladder carcinoma were examined with PET after intravenous injection of ¹¹C-methionine; 2 were also examined with ¹⁸FDG. The results from the PET investigations were compared with CT or MR findings and TNM classification before and after treatment.

Results: The urinary excretion of ¹⁸FDG prevented distinction of the primary tumour from the surrounding tracer. With ¹¹C-methionine it was possible to detect 18/23 primary tumours. A trend was seen, suggesting that the higher the uptake values of ¹¹C-methionine in the tumour, the greater the tumour stage.

Conclusion: It is possible to visualize urinary bladder tumours larger than 1 cm in diameter with PET using ¹¹C-methionine, but the value of the method in the staging of the lesions is not superior to conventional methods.

Key Words:

• Urinary bladder neoplasm, emission CT
• MR