| Abstract: |
Nuclear medicine is an integral component of oncology practice, facilitating early detection of tumors and metastases, as well as helping monitor disease progression. In the case of liver and biliary tumors, modern imaging techniques play an important role in therapeutic decision-making. Biological imaging has long been invaluable in staging patients to determine resectability. Nuclear imaging can also provide a rapid assessment of response to systemic or regional treatments. With improving systemic therapies being administered as neoadjuvant therapy, biological imaging is also emerging as a way of differentiating between residual scars from therapy and viable disease. Here we cover various studies that investigate the comparative effectiveness of cross-sectional morphologic imaging alone and in combination with functional nuclear medicine imaging. Specifically, we discuss the role of nuclear imaging in the diagnosis, characterization, and treatment of patients with primary and secondary liver or biliary tract malignancies. We will also review the recent improvements in tumor-specific nuclear imaging that are likely to alter treatment algorithms in the near future. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. |
