Search

Copyright of Molecular Imaging & Radionuclide Therapy is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The use of external beam radiation therapy for primary treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been limited by the low radiation tolerance of the non-tumoral liver. However, technical advances allowing partial liver volume external irradiation have resulted in consistently high response rates. Internal radiation therapy, also called 90Y radioembolization (90Y-RE), consists in delivering implantable microspheres labeled with 90Y into the arteries that feed liver tumors in order to provide a high dose of radiation to tumor nodules irrespective of their number, size and location, while preserving the non-tumoral liver tissue from receiving a harmful level of radiation. Among patients with HCC, 90Y-RE is used for those that have a preserved liver function and unresectable tumors that cannot be treated with percutaneous ablation. Although 90Y-RE is by and large well tolerated, it may produce relevant toxic effects as a result of radiation of non-target organs including cholecystitis, gastrointestinal ulceration, pneumonitis, and most importantly, liver toxicity. A significant effect on tumor growth in the treated lesions is consistently observed with disease control rates in excess of 80%. Also, 90Y-RE may allow downstaging large or multiple lesions to radical treatments with curative intent. When compared with the survival of HCC patients in advanced stage either not treated or treated with ineffective systemic agents, survival after 90Y-RE is encouraging and warrants future clinical trials. Clinical research in combining the cytotoxic effect of 90Y with the cytostatic mechanism of targeted therapies is currently in progress and will provide valuable safety and toxicity data that may translate into improved clinical outcome and overall survival. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease (AD) acknowledges the interest given to biomarkers to improve the specificity in subjects with dementia and to facilitate an early diagnosis of the pathophysiological process of AD in the prodromal or pre-dementia stage. The current availability of PET imaging biomarkers of synaptic dysfunction (PET-FDG) and beta amyloid deposition using amyloid-PET provides clinicians with the opportunity to apply the new criteria and improve diagnostic accuracy in their clinical practice. Therefore, it seems essential for the scientific societies involved to use the new clinical diagnostic support tools to establish clear, evidence-based and agreed set of recommendations for their appropriate use. The present work includes a systematic review of the literature on the utility of FDG-PET and amyloid-PET for the diagnosis of AD and related neurodegenerative diseases that occur with dementia. Thus, we propose a series of recommendations agreed on by the Spanish Society of Nuclear Medicine and Spanish Society of Neurology as a consensus statement on the appropriate use of PET imaging biomarkers., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMNIM. All rights reserved.)