Positron Emission Tomography from FDG to Amino Acid Tracers

Advanced imaging techniques and targeted therapies have revolutionized the field of neuro-oncology. Among these, positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance (PET/MR) have been used with various radiopharmaceuticals to assess the mechanisms underlying biochemical changes and physiopathology of brain tumors. The role of 2-[18F]FDG (or 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoroglucose), the first PET tracer clinically used for brain imaging, is today less important than in the past after the exponential increase of the use of amino acid tracers, which are nowadays employed for various diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, such as initial diagnosis, tumor delineation, differential diagnosis between radionecrosis and recurrence, as well as response assessment and therapy planning. In the present chapter, we will discuss the role of the most important representatives among amino acid tracers for imaging brain tumors, non-forgetting to illustrate major applications in both adult and pediatric populations.