Clinical positron emission tomography for brain tumors: comparison of fludeoxyglucose F 18 and L-methyl-11C-methionine

PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences between fludeoxyglucose F 18 (FDG) and L-methyl-11C-methionine (11C-methionine) as tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) in the evaluation of brain tumors. METHODS: We analyzed 10 patients with histologically verified cerebral glioma or meningioma and 1 patient with a neuroradiologic diagnosis of low-grade glioma by using FDG, 11C-methionine, and PET. We qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated the extent and degree of accumulation of FDG and 11C-methionine in the tumor tissue. RESULTS: Although PET with FDG depicted malignant tumors as a hot spot in all cases, it was not able to delineate the extent of the tumor. Conversely, PET with 11C-methionine outlined the tumors as areas of increased accumulation of 11C-methionine, regardless of the degree of malignancy. CONCLUSION: PET with FDG and with 11C-methionine can play complementary roles in the evaluation of brain tumors.