Value of PET/CT in the Management of Liver Metastases, Part 1

OBJECTIVE: Metastasis is the most common (95%) of liver lesions. Early diagnosis and staging are the keys to treatment planning and prognosis. There is a consistent benefit to the use of PET/CT for detecting hepatic, local, and distant metastases from a variety of primary malignancies, which can contribute to staging and ultimately helps to establish the best course of treatment and to determine prognosis. CONCLUSION: For colorectal cancer, FDG PET and FDG PET/CT are particularly effective for identification of additional hepatic and extrahepatic metastases, frequently upstaging the tumor stage and affecting management. In addition, PET/CT is very useful in local ablative and systemic therapy assessment and surveillance for liver metastases.