[18f]- fdg radiopharmaceutical: a way to improve the diagnosis of cancer in Costa Rica

Abstract

The University of Costa Rica (UCR) will soon have a centre for the early detection of cancer. It will be able to produce positron-emission radiopharmaceuticals. The positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine procedure in which the in vivo distribution of a labeled pharmaceutical can be studied. The main PET radiopharmaceutical is 2-deoxy-2-(18F)fluoro-D-glucose (FDG). This radiopharmaceutical is used in oncology in diagnosis, staging, prognostic assessment, therapy monitoring, radiotherapy planning and detection of recurrent disease. The purpose of the review is to deal with vital aspects regarding the production of the radionuclide 18F in the cyclotron, the synthesis and quality control of FDG and PET image acquisition. Furthermore, it summarizes existing information regarding patient preparation and compares the FDG PET/CT oncologic indications covered by public healthcare systems in Ecuador, Uruguay and Spain.