PET Scanning in Breast Cancer: A Clinician's Perspective

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women excluding nonmelanotic skin cancers, and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. In 2005, it is estimated there will be over 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 40,000 deaths from the disease. Although the incidence of breast cancer remains high, the rate of death from breast cancer has recently been estimated to have diminished by 25% to 38% through the contribution of screening mammography and adjuvant therapy. Despite these advances, breast cancer continues to remain a major personal and public health issue. Oncologists are continually seeking tools to aid the treatment decisions for patients with breast cancer. At every stage of a patient's disease, accurate information is required to assess the extent of disease, the pattern of spread, and the response to therapy. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing data regarding the potential role of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission topography (FDG-PET) scanning in the mangement of breast cancer patients from a clinician's viewpoint.