Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkiye Klinikleri Pediatri, cilt.20, sa.2, ss.151-168, 2011 (Scopus)
Pediatric cancers represent a small number of all cancer patients (2%). Tumors of childhood; neuroblastoma, Wilms tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma, retinoblastoma and tumors which are common with adults like leukemia, lymphoma, primary central nervous system and bone tumors are the basic titles of pediatric oncology. In the diagnosis, staging of these tumors and in the evaluation of response to therapy, nuclear medicine imaging plays an important role as it can provide functional data compared to the conventional methods. The most frequently used nuclear medicine imaging techniques in pediatric oncology are 99mTc-MDP whole body bone scintigraphy, gallium-67 ( 67Ga) citrate whole body scintigraphy and SPECT, 99mTc sestamibi (99mTc-MIBI) whole body scintigraphy, MIBI SPECT, MIBI SPECT/CT, 131I or 123I MIBG whole body scintigraphy, MIBG SPECT and SPECT/CT and 18F-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT. Although imaging protocols are not very much different from adult age group, because pediatric physiology shows some differences and radiation dosimetry is a matter of concern in childhood, some dosage changes may be needed. Nuclear medicine also deals with the treatment of some of these tumors. The most important therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals are 131I used in thyroid carcinomas and 131T MTBG in neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial solid tumor of the childhood. Nuclear medicine imaging and radioactive therapy methods in pediatric oncology are reviewed in this article. Copyright © 2011 by Türkiye Klinikleri.