Role of Fludeoxyglucose in Breast Cancer: Treatment Response.

After an overview of the principles of fludeoxyglucose-PET/computed tomography (CT) in breast cancer, its advantages and limits to evaluate treatment response are discussed. The metabolic information is helpful for early assessment of the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and could be used to monitor treatment, especially in aggressive breast cancer subtypes. PET/CT is also a powerful method for early assessment of the treatment response in the metastatic setting. It allows evaluation of different sites of metastases in a single examination and detection of a heterogeneous response. However, to use PET/CT to assess responses, methodology for image acquisition and analysis needs standardization.