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Positron Emission Tomography

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 21 Accesses

Synonyms

Hybrid positron emission tomography/computed tomography; Integrated positron emission tomography/computed tomography

Definition

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive nuclear medical imaging modality enabling the visualization and quantification of biological processes. PET provides integral information regarding metabolic activity of the primary tumor and potential lymph node or distant organ metastases. PET can be used for cancer detection (early detection), tumor staging and restaging, assessment of response to treatment, and anticancer drug development.

Characteristics

Principle of Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

PET allows noninvasive assessment of the three-dimensional distribution of a positron-labeled compound within the living body. Positrons are antiparticles of electrons and originate from β+ decays of radioactive isotopes such as 11C, 13N, 15O, 18F, 68Ga, 86Y, or 124I. During β+ decay, a positron and a neutrino are emitted, both sharing a certain...

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References

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See Also

  • (2012) CHO Cells. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 818. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1105

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  • (2012) Computed Tomography. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp 964–965. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1295

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  • (2012) CUP. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp 1012–1013. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1410

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  • (2012) FET. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 1391. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2150

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  • (2012) FLT. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 1423. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2210

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  • (2012) Magnetic Resonance Imaging. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2136. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3496

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  • (2012) MET, 11C-Methionine. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2254. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3650

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  • (2012) Metabolic Trapping. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2258. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3659

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  • (2012) RGD, 18F-Galacto-RGD. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 3298. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5091

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Würzburg, Director, Oberdürrbacher Strasse 6, 97080, Würzburg, Germany

    Andreas K. Buck

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Markus Schwaiger

Authors
  1. Andreas K. Buck
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  2. Markus Schwaiger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas K. Buck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Buck, A.K., Schwaiger, M. (2014). Positron Emission Tomography. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4688-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4688-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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