Positron emission tomography (PET) is a radionuclide method that quantifies physiological and metabolic parameters in vivo. PET with L-methyl-C-11-methionine as a tracer was performed in 13 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma and twenty-two lesions were evaluated. Two of 13 patients still had their primary renal tumours. The PET images of all the patients showed a good correlation with the computerized tomography (CT) images, and detected not only the primary tumour but also metastases. PET utilizing 11-methionine was efficient in visualizing metastatic lesions in the thorax. The conclusion of this pilot study is that the PET technique with C-11-methionine as a tracer can be used in the diagnosis of advanced renal cell adenocarcinoma to visualize and characterize the primary renal tumour and its metastases in vivo.

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