Clinical Value of 18F-FDG PET in Paraneoplastic and Pembrolizumab-Associated Myositis

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) is widely used to evaluate patients with cancer and to detect various inflammatory processes. Here, we report a rare case of a 53-year-old woman with breast cancer who developed generalized pain, weakness, rash, and edema over the trunk after the first cycle of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. 18F-FDG PET revealed diffusely increased uptake in the muscles without skeletal or visceral metastasis, aiding in the diagnosis of paraneoplastic and pembrolizumab-associated myositis and subsequent monitoring. This case underscores the value of 18F-FDG PET in differentiating myositis from tumor progression and monitoring treatment response in such cases.