The role of ¹⁸FDG-PET in gastric cancer

Imaging with ¹⁸F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose PET (¹⁸FDGPET) is based on the increased glucose uptake of neoplastic cells, which over-express the main cell-membrane glucose transporter GLUT-1 resulting in higher uptake of 18FDG as well. More than visual analysis an often-used semiquantitative method to assess tumor ¹⁸FDG uptake is the standard value (SUV), which is the measurement of ¹⁸FDG up-take in a tumor volume normalized on the basis of a distribution volume.