Abstract

Our goal was to measure the effect of radiotherapy on the brain glucose metabolism of tumoral and nontumoral tissue of patients with brain malignancies. Fifteen patients with primary or metastatic brain tumors were studied with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose and PET prior to radiotherapy, and nine of them were rescanned 1 week after completing radiotherapy. Brain metabolism in patients (all brain regions except for tumoral and edematous tissue) was lower than that of matched controls (34.0 +/- 8.3 vs. 46.5 +/- 6.4 mumol/100 g/min; p < or = 0.0001). Five of the nine patients retested after radiotherapy showed decrements in tumor metabolism (47 +/- 10%; p < or = 0.05) and increases in brain metabolism (10 +/- 4%; p < or = 0.004), and the other four showed no changes in tumor or in brain metabolism. Radiotherapy-induced changes in tumor metabolism were negatively correlated with changes in brain metabolism (r = 0.85, p < or = 0.004), but not with changes in tumor volume (assessed with MR images). The study indicates that radiotherapy-induced increases in metabolism of nontumoral tissue are secondary to decreased tumor metabolic activity and not just due to volume reduction.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.