Novel techniques for imaging and diagnosing neuroendocrine tumours

I read with great interest the article by Scarpa et al. [1]. It comprehensively covered the current methods available for diagnosis of midgut neuroendocrine tumours. However, it is important to mention to readers the rapidly developing nuclear medicine techniques, specifically positron emission tomography, which enables imaging of neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) with greater accuracy [2]. The development of new beta emitting radiopharmaceuticals has enabled development of PET as an imaging technique for NETs. PET offers higher spatial resolution as compared to gamma camera. Furthermore, combined PET/CT imaging enables accurate staging of NETs [2]. Currently there are two types of radiopharmaceuticals available one is metabolic tracers such as fluorodeoxyglucose FDG and 3,4-dihydroxy-6-(18) fluoro-Lphenylalanine F-DOPA [3,4]. The other radiotracers are directed to NET receptors specifically the somatostatin receptors; these agents include Gallium-DOTA peptides: Ga-DOTA-NOC, Ga-DOTA-TOC, and Ga-DOTATATE [5–7]. Numerous studies have demonstrated that Ga-DOTA peptides are more sensitive and accurate in identifying and staging NETs [2], plus lead to impact of clinical management [6,8]. With further research and determining the optimal radiotracers PET imaging in NETs will become more established. REFERENCES