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Background: Accurate staging is important before surgical decision in patients with high-risk prostate cancer (PCa). The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare the diagnostic performance of (18) F-FCholine and MRI with diffusion weighted imaging (DWIMRI) for local and regional lymph node (LN) staging before radical prostatectomy (RP) with extended pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLND)., Methods: We identified 47 patients who underwent (18) F-FCholine and DWIMRI followed by surgical treatment (either prostatectomy or LN dissection or an association of prostatectomy and LN dissection) between May 2010 and December 2012 at Bordeaux University Hospital. These patients were part of a prospective study (EudraCT number 2009-014839-21) evaluating the interest of (18) F-FCholine in staging of high-risk PCa. Diagnostic performances were retrospectively determined for each of (18) F-FCholine and DWIMRI considering LN invasion, each of prostate sextants, capsular invasion and extension to seminal vesicles. (18) F-FCholine and MR findings were correlated with histological findings., Results: In a region-based LN analysis, the sensitivity and positive predictive value specificity were respectively, 56% and 98% for (18) F-Choline, and 17% and 97% for DWIMRI. In a patient-based analysis the sensitivity and positive predictive value were respectively 78% and 94% for (18) F-Choline and 33% and 84% for DWIMRI (P = 0.015). For tumor staging, DWIMRI showed better performances with a better specificity (69%) for sextants analysis and sensitivity to detect seminal vesicle invasion (73% vs. 36%)., Conclusions: (18) F-FCholine imaging appears to provide helpful additional information in the staging of high-risk PCa. It appears essential for predicting LN status due to its higher sensitivity and specificity for LN involvement. However, despite excellent performance, it cannot replace MRI that remains better for tumoral localization and local evaluation, especially for seminal vesicle invasion., Patient Summary: This study highlights the interest of (18) F-Choline in the staging of high risk prostate cancer in addition with DWI MRI, especially so in the evaluation of lymph node involvement due to its high sensitivity and excellent specificity., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

In recent years, preoperative imaging has become essential in the evaluation of sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) for selecting good candidates for minimally invasive HPT. Its role in patients with secondary/tertiary HPT is under investigation. Imaging is mandatory before reoperative parathyroid surgery for persistent or recurrent HPT, whatever the setting. This review provides detailed information regarding the nuclear imaging methods (dual phase, subtraction), the role of SPECT and SPECT/CT, and the clinical results of parathyroid scintigraphy in different clinical situations.

The large increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer among children who were mainly less than five years old at the time of the Chernobyl accident is still a major preoccupation for endocrinologists and nuclear physicians. Epidemiological studies have focused solely on iodine 131. However, past knowledge on thyroid irradiation (medical use of iodine 131, radioactive fallout on Marshall islands and the Nevada, and Hanford site releases) as well as number of recent works (about low-dose irradiation), raise question on the role of other factors. It is here shown that post-Chernobyl thyroid irradiation is complex and that all factors (iodine 131, but also short lived isotopes of iodine and external irradiation) should be considered. Finally, one need to think about some of the present medical uses of iodine 131, and especially to the treatment of hyperthyroidism in young subjects.

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a technique of functional imaging whose interest in oncology does not cease growing. This article summarizes the results of the technique in senology. For the initial evaluation of locally advanced breast cancer (extended primitive lesion, axillary lymph nodes...), the FDG-PET makes it possible to evaluate lymph nodes (in particular internal mammary nodes) and to seek remote metastases. The sensitivity of the examination appears nevertheless low for the secondary lesions of small size and for bone metastases of osteoblastic form, for which the performances of the bisphosphonates scintigraphy are higher. For the search of a loco-regional or remote recurrence, the performances of FDG-PET are very interesting, including in the event of normality of the biological assessment. The impact of FDG-PET on the therapeutic strategy is undeniable and seems estimated at least 20%. FDG-PET is not recommended for the characterization of a breast lesion. In addition to the small tumoral size, the causes of false negative are mostly represented by the lobular histological form, by the tumours with low proliferation, the tumours of low grade and the well differentiated lesions. The causes of false positive are mainly in relation with inflammatory and/or infectious phenomena. For similar reasons, FDG-PET cannot replace the anatomy-pathological analysis of the axillary nodes. To evaluate the effectiveness of a neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, FDG-PET seems to be a powerful examination. Nevertheless, the data of the literature appear insufficient to recommend it in current practice. It is the same way for the prognostic interest.

The remarkably good prognosis and long-term survival in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) are significantly reduced in patients with distant metastasis (DM). Multi-site metastases are associated with a high mortality rate reaching 92% at 5 years necessitating early diagnosis and treatment. The most common site of metastases are the lungs, followed by the bone, with the former having better prognosis than the latter due to late detection. A number of factors contribute to the development of DM including large and multifocal primary tumour, extrathyroidal extension, aggressive histology and advanced age. In patients with good (131)I uptake, (131)I therapy appears highly effective and should be offered up to a cumulative activity of 22 GBq. Other measures such as surgery, radiotherapy, arterial embolisation and cementoplasty may be required. If there is low or no (131)I uptake, FDG-PET should be obtained due to its prognostic impact. It may help in selecting patients for other modalities such as cytotoxic chemotherapy and redifferentiation therapy by 13-cis retinoic acid. The development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors has raised hopes in providing alternative therapy for bone metastasis, especially in older age groups with poorly differentiated tumours with no (131)I uptake but good uptake of FDG.

Nuclear functional imaging is a reliable technique for the early evaluation of conventional cytotoxic and cytostatic agents. It also represents a major tool for the development and validation of anti-tumor targeted therapies.

About 4000 people are diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma each year in France and as many as one in three adult patients have thyroid nodules on sonography. Nine in ten cases are differentiated (DTC). DTC may recur in the neck or metastasize very late, and final outcomes should therefore only be assessed after at least 20 years of follow-up. The goals of this study were to provide a reference for the evaluation of other protocols, to evaluate the benefits and risks of radioiodine, and to identify the most effective management option. We examined 25-year outcomes in a series of 850 DTC patients who were operated on and monitored with the same protocols. We used an original classification (Ext-Tg) that includes both the initial extension and the thyroglobulin (Tg) level at the end of initial treatment. The low-risk group, composed of patients with Tg <10 microg/l after ablation of thyroid remnants, included patients at stage 1 (microcarcinoma, n=268), stage 2 (intra-thyroidal carcinoma, n=310), and stage 3 (DTC with node invasion, n=142). Stage 4 disease consisted of DTC with some non excisable tumor in the neck, and/or metastasis, and/or stimulated Tg >10 microg/l after remnant ablation. Most patients had total thyroidectomy followed by radioiodine ablation, periodic monitoring adapted to the stage, and suppressive therapy. At 25 years the actuarial rates of cancer-related death among patients with initial stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 disease were respectively 0%, 1,4%, 0% and 46,9%. The overall recurrence rates were respectively 3,6%, 3,8%, 5,3% and 44,5%. The rates of cervical recurrence necessitating surgery were 3,8%, 2,4%, 3,4% and 23,7%. Serious complications of treatment, including radioiodine, were rare. We conclude that:--good long-term results are more likely to be obtained when total thyroidectomy and radioiodine are combined with an early detection of recurrences (before they are visible by traditional imaging methods);--patients must be strictly staged in order to guide the modalities and duration of follow-up, and the Ext-TG classification seems more appropriate than all those which do not consider the Tg level at the end of initial treatment;--in experienced hands the benefits of total surgical ablation of the tumor greatly outweigh the potential risks;--radioiodine is effective and safe when appropriate measures are taken to prevent complications, and the long-term eficacy of surveillance without total body scanning should be verified before being universally adopted;--cost-reduction should focus on diagnosis, screening, and the selection of nodules eligible for surgery, rather than on monitoring of patients with DTC. DTC is thus a paradigm of a disease in which it is possible to optimize the long-term results and to lower costs by monitoring small and non-suspect nodules.

Recent progresses in the ability to obtain a secure diagnosis and preoperative localisation have resulted in a lower threshold for surgery of primary hyperparathyroidism. We questioned whether these trends have been accompanied by an improvement in surgical results, or changes in the profile of the disease among operated patients. From a total of 511 operations (499 patients), we retrospectively investigated the data from three successive periods of 10 years each: (1973-1982: 73 operations; (1983-1992): 155 operations; (1993-2002): 283 operations. Rates of surgical failure, defined as persistent hypercalcaemia at six months, have progressively declined: 6.8%, 1.3% and 0.7% respectively. There also has been a decline in the rates of permanent hypoparathyroidism or laryngeal nerve injury. However, these complications were highly influenced by the underlying pathology (surgery for single adenoma versus surgery for multiple gland disease) and by the need for concomitant thyroid surgery. Considering signs and symptoms, the frequency of kidney stones has declined from 50% to 29.7%, while the rate of patients diagnosed at routine screening has increased from 19% to 39%. The prevalence of parathyroid cancer among operated patients has successively declined from 6.8% to 1.3%, then 0% during the last period. Our data suggest that present improvement in the success rate of parathyroid surgery be partly due to improvement in preoperative localisation. Among imaging techniques, subtraction scintigraphy, based on the simultaneous recording of technetium-99m-sestamibi and iodine-123, provided the highest rate of accurate location (92.6%). Because this imaging technique depicted a majority of cases of multiple parathyroid gland disease at prospective evaluation (14 out of 15), we now use it to select appropriate cases for a focussed surgery under local anaesthesia, without the additional need for intraoperative PTH monitoring. The present good surgical results would justify surgery even for elderly or asymptomatic patients. Surgery carried out before appearance of symptoms seems beneficial. Only asymptomatic patients with a short life expectancy may be denied surgery.