Non-invasive positron emission tomography (PET) enables the measurement of metabolic and molecular processes with high sensitivity. PET plays a significant role in the diagnosis

prognosis

and treatment of gliomas and predominantly detects gliomas by detecting their metabolic alterations

including energy metabolism

amino acid metabolism

choline metabolism

nucleic acid metabolism

and hypoxic metabolism

etc. Glucose metabolic tracers are related to tumor cell energy and exhibit good sensitivity but poor specificity for gliomas. Amino acid metabolic tracers provide a better delineation of tumors and cellular proliferation. Choline and nucleic acid metabolic tracers have high sensitivity for gliomas and cellular proliferation. Hypoxic metabolism tracers are useful for detecting resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Therefore

PET imaging techniques are useful for detecting biopsy-targeting points

deciding on tumor resection

radiotherapy planning

monitoring therapy

and distinguishing glioma recurrence or progression from post-radiotherapy effects. However

it is not possible to use only one PET tracer to make all clinical decisions because each tracer has both advantages and disadvantages. This study focuses on the different kinds of PET tracers and summarizes their recent applications in patients with gliomas. Combinational uses of PET tracers are expected tocontribute to differential diagnosis

prognosis

targeted treatment

and monitoring therapy.