Research papersPET/MRI of the breast

- The feasibility of breast PET/MRI has been proven in recent literature.
- There are technical considerations to be aware of when performing PET/MRI.
- PET/MRI may be helpful in the future of quantitative and qualitative multiparametric imaging in breast cancer patients.

The future clinical use of the combination of positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-Fluoro[F-18]-2-Deoxy-d-Glucose (FDG)and MRI is still unclear. If a patient requires a PET and breast DCE-MRI for staging purposes, both scans can be done in the same visit. In the breast, DCE-MRI is better at lesion detection (sensitivity), margin evaluation, and has a higher specificity than CT. The potential for multiparametric qualitative and quantitative imaging is also an advantage of PET/MRI which provides opportunity to improve tumor characterization and may ultimately lead to outcome prediction. This review discusses technical and clinical aspects of this emerging technology in breast cancer patients.