1Dept of Nuclear Medicine, Guy's and St. Thomas’Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
2Dept of Nuclear Medicine, St Mary's Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
3Dept of Nuclear Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK
*Correspondence to : Dr. J R Buscombe MD Dept of Nuclear Medicine Royal Free Hospital, London, UK e-mail: j.buscombe@medsch.ucl.ac.uk
Neuroendocrine tumours are a rare type of cancer that can arise in different parts of the body. These tumours are derived from neoplastic proliferation of cells of the diffuse neuroendocrine system and constitute approximately 2% of all malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal system. NETs can express neuroamine uptake mechanisms and somatostatin receptors or both. 123I-mIBG and 111ln-pentetreotide(octreoscan) are the commonly used radiopharmaceuticals for imaging. Once localized using 123I-mIBG or octreoscan, these tumours can be successfully targeted with radiolabelled mlBG or somatostatin analogues. This review focuses on recent advances and trends in both imaging and treatment of these tumours using nuclear medicine techniques.
