2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose PET in Brain Tumors.

2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose ([18F]FDG) PET remains widely used in neuro-oncology and provides valuable metabolic information in both adult and pediatric brain tumors. In primary central nervous system lymphomas, it plays an important role in diagnosis, staging, prognostic assessment, and treatment monitoring. In gliomas and other brain tumors, because of the high physiologic uptake in normal brain tissue, particularly in the cortex, tumor-to-background contrast may be reduced. Nevertheless, 18F FDG PET can help to characterize tumor aggressiveness, guide biopsy, and detect residual or recurrent disease.