Improvement in diagnosis of metastatic pituitary carcinoma by 68Ga DOTATATE PET/CT

Clin Nucl Med. 2015 Feb;40(2):e129-31. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0000000000000462.

Abstract

Pituitary carcinoma is a rare disease with a challenge in both diagnosis and treatment. A 50-year-old female patient who underwent transsphenoidal resection of a pituitary tumor experienced progressive headache. For the evaluation, Ga DOTATATE PET/CT was used and compared with F-FDG PET/CT and enhanced MRI. Multiple lesions were detected by Ga DOTATATE PET/CT at the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and cerebellopontine angle with a higher contrast than F-FDG PET/CT and enhanced MRI. With a biopsy, the patient was diagnosed as metastatic pituitary carcinoma. Moreover, it thus presents potential therapeutic implications on molecular-targeted therapy using somatostatin analogs and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy targeting the somatostatin receptors.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Brain Neoplasms / secondary
  • Carcinoma / diagnostic imaging*
  • Carcinoma / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Organometallic Compounds*
  • Pituitary Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Pituitary Neoplasms / pathology
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Substances

  • Organometallic Compounds
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • gallium Ga 68 dotatate