Radioguided surgery in neuroendocrine tumors. A review of the literature

Radioguided Surgery for Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours: a Systematic Literature Review

BACKGROUND

Radioguided surgery (RGS) for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs) has been suggested as a way to improve intraoperative lesion detection. This systematic literature review of reports of the use of RGS for GEP-NETs was performed to determine if there is a benefit.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed, and snowballing from any relevant literature. Full-text studies were included if they were published in the English language and reported outcomes of RGS on human subjects with GEP-NETs. Qualitative data synthesis was performed.

RESULTS

Twenty-six papers including a total of 209 patients were included. The tracers used were predominantly indium-111 pentetreotide, gallium-68 DOTA-peptides, and technetium-99m EDDA/HYNIC-peptides. Heterogeneous protocols make comparisons difficult, but most papers reported a benefit from the use of RGS in tumours in the gastrointestinal tract; utility in localisation of pancreatic tumours was less clear. Time between tracer administration and operation varied: from 16 h to 8 days with indium-111, 0-24 h with technetium-99m, and 19-193 min with gallium-68. Eight teams reported the thresholding technique used for discrimination-four used a ratio, four statistical methods, and one looked at the sensitivity and specificity of different cut-offs. Six teams performed follow-up of 24 patients (three pancreas, eight gastrinoma, 13 gastrointestinal tract) for between 3 months and 3 years. Two patients relapsed (one pancreas, one gastrinoma) between 6 and 12 months post-surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

RGS appears to aid in localisation of gastrointestinal NETs, but the benefit is more equivocal in pancreatic NETs. Further work into outcomes is warranted.

PET- and SPECT-based navigation strategies to advance procedural accuracy in interventional radiology and image-guided surgery

INTRODUCTION

Nuclear medicine has a crucial role in interventional strategies where a combination between the increasing use of targeted radiotracers and intraprocedural detection modalities enable novel, but often complex, targeted procedures in both the fields of interventional radiology and surgery. 3D navigation approaches could assist the interventional radiologist or surgeon in such complex procedures.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

This review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the current application of computer-assisted navigation strategies based on nuclear imaging to assist in interventional radiology and image-guided surgery. This work starts with a brief overview of the typical navigation workflow from a technical perspective, which is followed by the different clinical applications organized based on their anatomical organ of interest.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Although many studies have proven the feasibility of PET- and SPECT-based navigation strategies for various clinical applications in both interventional radiology and surgery, the strategies are spread widely in both navigation workflows and clinical indications, evaluated in small patient groups. Hence, no golden standard has yet been established.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite that the clinical outcome is yet to be determined in large patient cohorts, navigation seems to be a promising technology to translate nuclear medicine findings, provided by PET- and SPECT-based molecular imaging, to the intervention and operating room. Interventional Nuclear Medicine (iNM) has an exciting future to come using both PET- and SPECT-based navigation.