The glucose tracer FDG can't define breast cancer biology on PET.

2004 SEP 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The glucose tracer FDG can't define breast cancer biology on PET.

"Breast cancer is associated with increased glucose consumption and can therefore be visualized with the glucose analogue [F-18]2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET). FDG uptake in the primary tumor can vary substantially, and specific tumor characteristics have been demonstrated to determine the degree of glucose metabolism," researchers in Germany report.

"Factors with a major influence on FDG uptake in breast cancer comprise expression of glucose transporter Glut-1 and hexokinase I, number of viable tumor cells per volume, histological subtype, tumor grading, microvessel density and proliferative activity," said A.K. Buck and colleagues, University Hospital of Ulm, Department of Nuclear Medicine.

"Recently, an association between high FDG uptake and a worse prognosis was suggested. Several studies have been performed correlating FDG uptake with a variety of prognostic and molecular biomarkers as well as parameters predicting tumor response to therapy."

"However, a correlation with important clinical prognostic markers such as axillary lymph node status and size of the primary tumor, expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors, proto-oncogene c-erbB-2 or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) could not be ...