Reduced glucose uptake with markedly increased gastrin releasing peptide, osteopontine & asbestos found in dark black areas of PET Scan of chest wall in patient with mesothelioma.

Abstract

PET Scans are most often used for detecting cancer and other malignant tumors because for most of them, glucose uptake is higher than in normal tissues. However, in mesothelioma, our study showed excessive deposits of Asbestos of 0.5 mg BDORT units, and markedly reduced Glucose uptake of less than 1/30 of normal tissue. As a consequence, the authors found that, in the location where there is a mesothelioma, distinctive dark black areas much darker than any normal tissue appear in the PET Scan. Therefore, a PET Scan taken parallel to the front & back of the chest wall often shows pitch-black areas on the chest wall of the patient, located on the ribs in the case of large black areas and between the ribs in the case of small black areas. If the amount of Asbestos in these areas is found to be very high in the same location where the glucose uptake is very low, one can suspect the presence of mesothelioma, which is often found at the inner wall of the chest cavity or the peritoneum in the abdomen with significantly increased Osteopontine (about 350-400 times that of normal tissue) and very significant increase in Gastrin Releasing Peptides (more than 1200 times that of normal tissue). In some patients, the only abnormal blood chemistry detected was abnormally increased Pro-Gastrin Releasing Peptide. This dark black area on the PET Scan image taken parallel to front and back of chest wall (with marked increase in asbestos, Gastrin-Releasing Peptide, & Osteopontine and marked decrease in glucose uptake in the pathological tissue) can be considered a characteristic finding for the diagnosis of mesothelioma.

• Authors: Yoshiaki Omura, Yasuhiro Shimotsuura, Harsha Duvvi, Naoki Ohata, Motomu Ohki
• Journal: Acupuncture & electro-therapeutics research (Acupunct Electrother Res) Vol. 31 Issue 3-4 Pg. 247-57 ( 2006) ISSN: 0360-1293 [Print] United States
• PMID: 17608064 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Radiopharmaceuticals
• Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
• Osteopontin
• Asbestos
• Gastrin-Releasing Peptide

Topics

• Aged
• Asbestos (metabolism)
• Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 (pharmacokinetics)
• Gastrin-Releasing Peptide (metabolism)
• Humans
• Lung Neoplasms (diagnostic imaging, metabolism)
• Male
• Mesothelioma (diagnostic imaging, metabolism)
• Osteopontin (metabolism)
• Positron-Emission Tomography (methods)
• Radiopharmaceuticals (pharmacokinetics)
• Thorax (diagnostic imaging, metabolism)