Evaluation of the Diagnostic and Prognostic Role of PET (PET/CT and PET/MRI) in Gynecological Tumors.

Gynecological cancers involve several tumors of the female reproductive system. The five most common gynecological tumors are those of the uterine cervix, endometrium, ovary, vagina and vulva. Furthermore, although rarer, there is a further gynecological tumor, which is generated from the gestational trophoblast tissue.These pathologies represent an important burden for society since there are over nine hundred thousand cases in Europe.

Ultrasound examination is the investigation commonly used to monitor high-risk women.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered the most accurate imaging technique for presurgical staging of gynecological tumors. Computed tomography (CT), on the other hand, is not usually used for diagnosis, but is considered very useful for investigating possible distant metastases.Finally, integrated positron emission tomography (PET)/CT and PET/MRI methods are innovative molecular imaging techniques and represent a continually expanding field of research in the oncology setting, including gynecological malignancies.

The present study is of considerable clinical relevance as at our Institute it is possible to have a significant number of patients suffering from gynecological neoplastic pathologies that are studied using PET, thus allowing the identification and validation of innovative imaging biomarkers, with the use of both traditional imaging parameters and radiomic features.