Compared to CT staging, Moog et al. have reported more accurate staging by FDG-PET in NHL [ 15]; 8% of patients were up-staged at diagnosis because of the identification of additional disease sites.
More accurate staging could improve the design of clinical trials and avoid inappropriate surgical decisions in individual patients.
Radioguided surgery and lymphatic mapping provide more accurate staging and a less morbid operation for the patient with malignant melanoma.
CBCT arthrography has -however- a better spatial resolution, the ability for thin multiplanar reformats allowing more accurate staging of articular cartilage lesions (Fig.10).
The CT component of 18F-FDG PET-CT imaging can provide high-resolution anatomical information, which enables more accurate staging and assessment.
FDG can show foci of uptake, particularly in extrathoracic sites, not seen by conventional imaging, which allows more accurate staging of disease thereby yielding useful prognostic information and guiding therapy.
The goal of this study was to quantitate primary tumor histologic factors and to apply these in a neural network computer analysis to determine if more accurate staging could be achieved.
These data indicate the need to develop novel strategies to detect these small foci of disease for more accurate staging of pancreatic cancer so that we may apply our therapies appropriately.
By providing additional functional information and in the correct setting, FDG PET-CT can allow earlier detection of tumours, identification of occult metastatic disease, characterisation of indeterminate lesions, assessment of therapeutic response and overall more accurate staging for potential resection.
Management of patients with advanced prostate cancer could be greatly improved by more sensitive, non-invasive techniques that allow more accurate staging and localisation of sites of metastases and low-volume recurrent disease.
