Biomedicines (May 2023)

FDG and Non-FDG Radiopharmaceuticals for PET Imaging in Invasive Lobular Breast Carcinoma

  • Laura Gilardi,
  • Lighea Simona Airò Farulla,
  • Giuseppe Curigliano,
  • Giovanni Corso,
  • Maria Cristina Leonardi,
  • Francesco Ceci

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11051350
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 5
p. 1350

Abstract

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Invasive lobular cancer (ILC) is the second most frequent histological type of breast cancer (BC) and includes a heterogeneous spectrum of diseases with unique characteristics, especially the infiltrative growth pattern and metastatic spread. [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) is extensively used in oncology and BC patient evaluation. Its role in ILCs is considered suboptimal due to its low FDG avidity. Therefore, ILCs could benefit from molecular imaging with non-FDG tracers that target other specific pathways, contributing to precision medicine. This narrative review aims to summarize the current literature on the use of FDG-PET/CT in ILC and to discuss future opportunities given by the development of innovative non-FDG radiotracers.

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