¹²³I-MIBG- and 18F-FDG-PET-imaging, two nuclear imaging methods for diagnosing neuroblastoma tumours

Neuroblastoma is a childhood tumour that can be visualized by a specific nuclear imaging compound, called metaiodobenzylguanidine (¹²³I -MIBG). ¹²³I-MIBG-imaging is not only important for the diagnosis of neuroblastoma, but also for localization of metastases (spread of the disease to other organs). Sometimes, the neuroblastoma does not take up ¹²³I-MIBG and as a result the neuroblastoma is not visible on the scan. In that case, another type of nuclear imaging might be useful to visualize the neuroblastoma: fluoro-deoxy-glucose – positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET)-imaging.

In the literature the ability to discriminate between neuroblastoma and non-neuroblastoma lesions for these two types of nuclear imaging methods vary.

Prognosis, treatment and response to therapy of patients with neuroblastoma are currently based on scoring the amount of metastases per body segment visible on ¹²³I-MIBG scans. Therefore, it is important to determine the exact ability to discriminate between neuroblastoma and non-neuroblastoma on ¹²³I-MIBG-imaging and 18F-FDG-PET-imaging. We reviewed the evidence about the accuracy of ¹²³I-MIBG-imaging and 18F-FDG-PET-imaging for the detection of a neuroblastoma in children suspected of this disease. Read more.