Nuclear Medicine & Radiation Therapy

New Imaging Techniques for 90Y Microsphere Radioembolization

Abstract

Michaël Vouche, Bruno Vanderlinden, Philippe Delatte, Marc Lemort, Alain Hendlisz, Amélie Deleporte, Thomas Guiot, Camilo Garcia and Patrick Flamen

Adequate patient selection and treatment planning is crucial for a safe and cost-effective administration of selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) of malignant liver disease using 90Y-labelled microspheres. It requires the implementation of multimodality imaging, integrating metabolic, functional and structural characteristics. A multidisciplinary approach is a prerequisite for SIRT, bringing together the knowhow and expertise of radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, medical physicists, imaging engineers, and radiotherapists. This review discusses the available radiologic (CT/MRI) and nuclear (SPECT/PET) imaging modalities and their specific utility in the different diagnostic phases related to SIRT: whole body and intrahepatic pre-treatment disease staging, CT and MRI-based angiography, liver-lung shunt assessment, treatment simulation, predictive dosimetry, post-treatment imaging, and SIRT response assessment.