PET/CT for Patients With Breast Cancer: Where Is the Clinical Impact?

OBJECTIVE. FDG PET/CT affects the management of patients with breast cancer in multiple settings, including initial staging, treatment response assessment, and evaluation of suspected recurrence. This article reviews the strengths and weaknesses of FDG PET/CT for the staging of the primary breast lesion, axillary and extraaxillary nodal metastases, and distant metastases. The utility of FDG PET/CT for measuring breast cancer treatment response is appraised and compared with other imaging modalities. The role that tumor histologic type may have on PET/CT interpretation is also discussed. CONCLUSION. Although FDG PET/CT is currently the PET modality with the greatest effect on clinical management of patients with breast cancer, novel radiotracers and imaging systems continue to broaden the application of PET for patients with breast cancer. National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for FDG PET/CT for patients with breast cancer are reviewed. Emphasis is given where FDG PET/CT has shown clinical effect.