Studies of Methionine-PET and PBR28-PET in Brain Metastases to Differentiate Tumor Recurrence and Radiation Necrosis Following Stereotactic Radiosurgery
The goal of this protocol is to evaluate the potential of PET imaging of amino acid transport and microglial activation to improve the differentiation of tumor recurrence and radiation necrosis in patients with brain metastases after treatment with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) who have re-growing lesions. These state-of-the-art imaging tools will be used in combination with standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), MR spectroscopy (MRS) and FDG-PET (fluorodeoxyglucose).
• Patients over 18 years with brain metastases from melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer
• Patients must have had SRS and regrowth in at least one lesion > 0.5 cm in greatest dimension and fall into one of two categories: a) patient is deemed clinically appropriate for surgical intervention (biopsy or craniotomy) OR b) patient is asymptomatic and has a life expectancy of > 6 months so that serial follow-up imaging is appropriate
• Willingness to participate in imaging studies
• Able to give informed consent