The small bowel represents approximately 75% of the length of the overall GI tract and contains 90% of the gastrointestinal tract surface area but < 5% of GI cancers occur in the small bowel. 1997 epidemiologic data from the United States demonstrated 131,200 large bowel cancers, 22,400 stomach cancers but only 4,900 small bowel cancers. PET scan is increasingly being used to stage and restage disease. Hoever, its sensitivity and specificity has only been defined for the most common cancers, such as lung, breast and others. Small bowel cancer has not been systemaically studied in this regard and, without reliable data, or guideline recommendations, restaging with PET cannot be recommended and can be misleading.
http://advanced-radiology.com/guidellines/Abdomen_Imaging_Guidelines.pdf
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