Abstract: ¹⁸F-FDG PET plays an increasingly important role in clinical assessment. However, some false-positive and false-negative results for certain tumors have been achieved with ¹⁸F-FDG. Furthermore, fatty acid metabolic imaging is valuable in lipid-metabolism PET imaging. This technique compensates for the deficiency of ¹⁸F-FDG PET examination and improves the diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy of tumor detection. This review provides an overview of recent developments in the use of short-chain fatty acid radioactive probes in PET imaging.