99mTc-DMSA (V) in Evaluation of Osteosarcoma: Comparative Studies with 18F-FDG PET/CT in Detection of Primary and Malignant Lesions

To evaluate the role of 99mTc-DMSA (V) and [18F]FDG PET-CT in management of patients with osteosarcoma, 22 patients were included in our study. All patients underwent both 99mTc-DMSA (V) and whole-body [18F]FDG PET-CT scans within an interval of 1 week. 555–740 MBq of 99mTc-DMSA (V) was injected i.v. the whole-body planar, SPECT images of primary site and chest were performed after 3-4 hours. [18F]FDG PET-CT images were obtained 60 minutes after i.v. injection of 370 MBq of F-18 FDG. Both FDG PET-CT (mean SUVmax = 7.1) and DMSA (V) scans showed abnormal uptake at primary site in all the 22 patients (100% sensitivity for both). Whole-body PET-CT detected metastasis in 11 pts (lung mets in 10 and lung + bone mets in 1 patient). Whole-body planar DMSA (V) and SPECT detected bone metastasis in one patient, lung mets in 7 patients and LN in 1 patient. HRCT of chest confirmed lung mets in 10 patients and inflammatory lesion in one patient. 7 patients positive for mets on DMSA (V) scan had higher uptake in lung lesions as compared to FDG uptake on PET-CT. Three patients who did not show any DMSA uptake had subcentimeter lung nodule. Resuts of both 99mTc-DMSA (V) (whole-body planar and SPECT imaging) and [18F]FDG PET-CT were comparable in evaluation of primary site lesions and metastatic lesions greater than 1 cm. Though 99mTc-DMSA (V) had higher uptake in the lesions as compared to [18F]FDG PET-CT, the only advantage [18F]FDG PET-CT had was that it could also detect subcentimeter lesions

Samarium-153 ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphonate therapy for bone pain palliation in skeletal metastases

BACKGROUND: Systemic therapy with radionuclides may be used for the treatment of patients with painful skeletal metastases owing to its efficacy, low cost and low toxicity. Imported radionuclides for pain palliation, like Strontium-89 are expensive; particularly for developing countries. In the Indian scenario, Samarium-153 (Sm-153) is produced in our own reactors and as a result, it is readily available and economical. AIM: We undertook this study to determine the efficacy and toxicity of single-dose Sm-153 ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphonate as a palliative treatment for painful skeletal metastases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eightysix patients with painful skeletal metastases from various primaries, were treated with Sm-153 EDTMP at a dose of 37 MBq/kg. The effects were evaluated according to change in visual analogue pain score, analgesic consumption, Karnofsky performance score, mobility score and blood count tests, conducted regularly for 16 weeks. STATISTICS: Repeated measures analysis. RESULTS: The overall response rates were 73%, while complete response was seen in 12.4%. Reduction in analgesic consumption with improvement in Karnofsky performance score and mobility score, was seen in all responders. Response rates were 80.3 and 80.5% in breast and prostate cancer, respectively. One case, each of Wilms tumor, ovarian cancer, germ cell tumor testis, multiple myeloma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor and oesophageal cancer, did not respond to therapy. No serious side-effects were noted, except for fall in white blood cell, platelet and haemoglobin counts, which gradually returned to normal levels by six-eight weeks. CONCLUSION: Sm-153 EDTMP provided effective palliation in 73% patients with painful bone metastases: the major toxicity was temporary myelosuppression

Effectiveness of bailouts in the EU

Governments in the EU frequently bail out firms in distress by granting state aid. I use data from 86 cases during the years 1995-2003 to examine two issues: the effectiveness of bailouts in preventing bankruptcy and the determinants of bailout policy. The results are threefold. First, the estimated discrete-time hazard rate increases during the first four years after the subsidy and drops after that, suggesting that some bailouts only delayed exit instead of preventing it. The number of failing bailouts could be reduced if European control was tougher. Second, governments’ bailout decisions favored state-owned firms, even though state-owned firms did not outperform private ones in the survival chances. Third, subsidy choice is an endogenous variable in the analysis of the hazard rate. Treating it as exogenous underestimates its impact on the bankruptcy probability. Several policy implications of the results are discussed in the paper

The role of ¹⁸F-fluoride PET-CT in the detection of bone metastases in patients with breast, lung and prostate carcinoma: a comparison with FDG PET/CT and ^99mTc-MDP bone scan

Objectives: We aimed to compare the role of 18F-fluoride PET/CT, FDG PET/CT and 99mTc-MDP bone scans in the detection of bone metastases in patients with lung, breast and prostate carcinoma. Methods: This was a prospective study including patients for staging (S) and restaging (R). Seventy-two patients (23S, 49R) with infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma, 49 patients (25S, 24R) with prostate adenocarcinoma and 30 patients (17S, 13R) with non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), without known bone metastases but with high risk/clinical suspicion for the same, underwent a 99mTc-MDP bone scan, FDG PET/CT and 18F-fluoride PET/CT within 2 weeks. All scans were reviewed by two experienced nuclear medicine physicians, and the findings were correlated with MRI/thin-slice CT/skeletal survey. Histological verification was done wherever feasible. Results: Sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) of 18F-fluoride PET/CT was 100 % in all three malignancies, while that of FDG PET/CT was 79 % and 73 % in NSCLC, 73 % and 80 % in breast cancer and 72 and 65 % in prostate cancer. Specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) of FDG PET/CT were 100 % in NSCLC and prostate and 97 % and 96 % in breast cancer. As compared to the 99mTc-MDP bone scan, all parameters were superior for 18F-fluoride PET/CT in prostate and breast cancer, but sensitivity and NPV were equal in NSCLC. The MDP bone scan had superior sensitivity and NPV compared to FDG PET/CT but had low specificity and PPV. Conclusion: To rule out bone metastases in cases where there is a high index of suspicion, 18F-fluoride PET/CT is the most reliable investigation. 18F-fluoride PET/CT has the potential to replace the 99mTc-MDP bone scan for the detection of bone metastases