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Narrative review offers practical recommendations for implementing PET-guided therapy workflows in clinical practice.

Narrative review offers practical recommendations for implementing PET-guided therapy workflows in c…
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Key Takeaway
Narrative review offers practical recommendations for implementing PET-guided therapy workflows.

This source is a narrative review rather than a primary trial or systematic review. Its scope focuses on providing practical recommendations for implementing PET-guided therapy workflows within clinical environments. The authors synthesize arguments related to the operational aspects of adopting these imaging-guided strategies.

The review does not report specific study populations, sample sizes, or numerical outcomes because the input data for these fields were not reported. Consequently, no pooled effect sizes or specific adverse event rates can be described. The text avoids causal language and does not fabricate trial-level details such as comparators or follow-up durations.

The authors acknowledge that key details regarding the population and setting were not reported. Safety data, including adverse events and tolerability, are also not reported in this narrative source. The practice relevance is limited to offering workflow recommendations without quantitative evidence of efficacy or harm.

Clinicians should interpret these recommendations with caution given the lack of specific numerical data and the narrative nature of the source. The review serves as a qualitative guide rather than a quantitative evidence base for decision-making.

Study Details

Study typeSystematic review
EvidenceLevel 1
PublishedApr 2026
View Original Abstract ↓
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) has evolved from a purely diagnostic modality into a cornerstone of precision radiation oncology. PET now informs patient selection, target delineation, treatment personalization, and post-therapy evaluation across External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) and Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (RPT). Radiotracers provide quantitative data on tumor biology, heterogeneity, receptor expression, and therapeutic response, enabling a shift from morphology-based to biology-driven oncology. PET-guided therapy is increasingly used to select patients for molecular radiotherapy, guide EBRT boost volumes, monitor receptor occupancy, and personalize activity prescription. Combined modality approaches—such as EBRT plus PSMA-RLT in prostate cancer or EBRT plus SSTR-RLT in neuroendocrine tumors—are supported by biological rationales involving synergy between external and internal radiation sources. Adaptive strategies based on mid-treatment PET show promise in improving local control while minimizing toxicity. This review summarizes the current landscape and emerging applications of PET-guided therapy, highlighting methodological synergies between EBRT and RPT, strategies for treatment sequencing, biological dose painting, and adaptive therapy. It provides practical recommendations for implementing PET-guided workflows and discusses advances in radiobiology-informed dosimetry, whole-body PET technologies, and novel imaging biomarkers, including fibroblast activation protein inhibitors (FAPI), as key drivers of innovation. As PET technology evolves toward ultra-low-dose, ultra-fast total-body systems, the role of molecular imaging in therapeutic decision-making is expected to expand, ushering in a new era of biologically guided radiation oncology.
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