ABSTRACT
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a potent molecular imaging tool for research due to its ability to quantitatively assess and noninvasively spatially localize the distribution of radioactivity throughout the body. PET imaging has moved from primarily being a research tool into the clinical mainstream, with an estimate of over 1.5 million exams performed in the United States in 2007. The differential diagnosis of a pulmonary nodule is quite extensive with significant overlap in imaging appearance between benign and malignant lesions. F-deoxyglucose PET and PET/computed tomography has an important role for evaluation of many of gastrointestinal tract malignancies. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 5% of cancerrelated deaths in the United States. Gallbladder carcinoma is the most common type of biliary cancer and is the fifth most common gastrointestinal malignancy accounting for approximately 6500 deaths per year in the United States.
