Imaging - PET scan

Principle

FDG-PET (often combined PET-CT) detects metabolically active (hypermetabolic) tissue - central to lung cancer staging and indeterminate pulmonary nodule characterisation
FDG uptake correlates with glucose metabolism, not malignancy specifically - false positives occur with infection/inflammation
18F-FDG (a glucose analogue) is taken up by metabolically active cells and trapped after phosphorylation; malignant cells typically show increased glycolysis (the Warburg effect)

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