Malignant Melanoma

Fig. 55.1

The PET scan shows progression of disease for the presence of two metastatic small lumps under the skin, clinically appreciable in the left leg

The deposition of glucose described in the left knee, thigh and groin has not the appearance of a focal lesion, so it is determined by nonspecific post-surgical reshaping (See also Figs. 55.2, 55.3, 55.4).

Fig. 55.2

The program that allows the calculation of the SUV max has significant limitations in the determination of the consumption of glucose in millimetric lesions because this is a limit of the resolutive technique and a relative under-estimation follows. The SUV max of the estimated subcutaneous nodules is proportional to their volume: it is higher at the bigger distal lesion and it seems lower in the proximal smaller one. Actually though, both nodules have high biological activity and metabolism