Application progress of ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT in the diagnosis of neoplasm metastases

¹⁸F-NaF has been used for the tracer of bone scans more than 50 years. After a period of decline for the shortage of positron detector, scholars using ¹⁸F-NaF as radioactive tracer is increasing with the development of PET/CT. The natural medicinal property of ¹⁸F-NaF and the advantage of PET make the ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT a better way to assess malignant osseous metastases than ⁹⁹Tc^m-MDP bone scan in sensitivity and specificity. When compared with ⁹⁹Tc^m-MDP bone scan, ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT and magnetic resonance imaging, ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT has higher sensitivity in detecting osseous metastases of malignancies. ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT also has different diagnostic values in management of patients with malignancies. Combine ¹⁸F-NaF and ¹⁸F-FDG in one PET/CT examination is proven to have potential in clinical management. ¹⁸F-NaF PET/CT is a safe, effective, simple and noninvasive method in diagnosis of bone metastases in malignant tumor.