Use of Molecular Imaging to Predict Clinical Outcome in Patients With Rectal Cancer After Preoperative Chemotherapy and Radiation

A trend was observed for % SUV decrease and posttreatment SUV predicting pCR in patients with rectal cancer treated with preoperative chemoradiation therapy. Further prospective study with a larger sample size is warranted to better characterize the role of 18-FDG-PET for response prediction in patients with rectal cancer.