Diagnostic Performance of Whole-Body PET/MRI for Detecting Malignancies

open access

Research Article

Diagnostic Performance of Whole-Body PET/MRI for Detecting Malignancies in Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis

 ....Conventional imaging procedures, such as chest radiography, CT, and ultrasonography, are commonly used to detect malignant lesions and assess tumor staging. However, based only on the morphologic criteria, it is difficult to identify small lesions and to distinguish potential metastatic lesions from benign findings [2]. The integrated ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET)/computed tomography (CT), which combines morphological and functional information, is helpful in tumor staging and is currently a major diagnostic tool in oncology [3,4]. Because it provides a higher level of accuracy in TNM staging than does either PET or CT alone, PET/CT is considered indispensable [5]. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which has excellent soft-tissue contrast compared to CT, can improve tumor detection and delineation in body regions with difficult anatomy, such as the head and neck areas and gynecological regions.....