13N-Ammonia (13N-NH3) is widely used positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) radiotracer for the measurement of myocardial blood perfusion; the possible role of 13N-NH3 PET or PET/CT in oncological disease is not yet clear. Aim of this review is to evaluate the diagnostic performances of 13N-NH3 PET in this field. A comprehensive computer literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases was conducted including articles up to June 2019. Eighteen articles were finally included in the review. From the analyses of the selected studies, the following main findings could be drawn: (1) 13N-NH3 PET is useful in discriminating between gliomas and non-neoplastic brain lesions, and among gliomas between high-grade and low-grade gliomas; (2) 13N-NH3 PET have better diagnostic performance than 18F-FDG in studying gliomas; (3) a combination of 13N-NH3 PET and 18F-FDG PET may be useful to differentiate between several cerebral lesions (gliomas, cerebral lymphoma, meningioma); (4) only preliminary results about the positive impact in liver and prostate cancer.
Keywords: 13N-NH3; Glioma; Oncological disease; PET/CT; Review.