Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear medicine techniques used in the diagnosis of patients with neuroblastoma (a review)

Abstract

About the 50 % of patients with neuroblastoma (NB) suffered from generalized form of disease at the moment of diagnosis establishing. So, the correct staging with the usage of methods of radiation diagnosis and nuclear medicine is very important in this setting. Meta-iodobenzyl guanidine (MIBG) is an analogue of noradrenalin so this is the ideal tumortropic drug for visualization of cells expresses carriers of noradrenalin. Main problems of method of MIBG scintigraphy are the limited spatial resolution, low sensitivity during the diagnosis of small-sized tumours, presence of NB without MIBG accumulation, duration of scanning and necessity of several scanning protocols. Positron-emission tomography with consequent radiopharmaceuticals can be good alternative way in comparison with routine scintigraphy with MIBG to help in case of doubtful and contradictory results.