PROCEEDINGS OF A NATIONAL-CANCER-INSTITUTE WORKSHOP - PET IN ONCOLOGY - A CLINICAL RESEARCH AGENDA

On November 28, 1992, the National Cancer Institute sponsored a workshop to discuss the current state of positron emission tomography (PET) applications in clinical oncology and to identify areas of consensus regarding a targeted research agenda in this growing field. Workshop members concluded that PET with the use of the glucose analog 18-F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) has demonstrated substantial clinical potential as a method to (a) depict and characterize masses, (b) depict regional metastatic disease involving lymph nodes, (c) depict systemic metastases of cancer, and (d) help assess the response of cancers to a variety of therapies. More broad-based research directed at advancing our ability to apply the PET method to cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring is needed. There was also a consensus that rigorous prospective trials of the PET method should be performed with current technology, transverse attenuation-corrected PET scans to determine the accuracy of PET in the characterization and regional staging of primary lung and breast cancers. Rational application of the PET method to cancer management will be accomplished better after the results of these research studies become available.