Prospective Evaluation of Whole-Body Cancer Screening With Multiple Modalities Including [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in a Healthy Population: A Preliminary Report

• Published in: Journal of clinical oncology Vol. 27; no. 11; pp. 1767 - 1773
• Main Authors: Nishizawa, Sadahiko, Kojima, Shinsuke, Teramukai, Satoshi, Inubushi, Masayuki, Kodama, Hironobu, Maeda, Yoshiki, Okada, Hiroyuki, Zhou, Bin, Nagai, Yoji, Fukushima, Masanori
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Alexandria, VA American Society of Clinical Oncology 10.04.2009
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Mass Screening; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neoplasms - blood; Neoplasms - diagnosis; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - prevention & control; Occult Blood; Positron-Emission Tomography; Prospective Studies; Radiopharmaceuticals; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Tumors; Radionuclide study; Prospective; 2-deoxy-2-fluoroglucose; Cancerology; Healthy subject; Whole body; Malignant tumor; Medical screening; Positron emission tomography; Cancer; Emission tomography
• DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2008.18.2238
• ISSN: 0732-183X

To prospectively evaluate the utility of whole-body cancer screening with multiple modalities including [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in a healthy population. This report summarizes the results of the first three annual screenings. A total of 1,197 healthy volunteers > or = 35 years old were enrolled between August 2003 and July 2004 and offered annual cancer screening for 5 years with subsequent long-term follow-up. Screening modalities included were whole-body FDG-PET, chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT), brain and pelvic magnetic resonance imaging, several tumor markers, and fecal occult blood testing. As of the end of 2006, 22 primary cancers were pathologically confirmed. Nineteen of 22 were detected by the screening; 18 in the initial, one in the second, and none in the third. Three were diagnosed after development of symptoms. Of the 18 detected in the initial screening (six thyroid, four lung, three prostate, three breast, one endometrial, and one thymic), 12 were at stage I and 11 were PET positive. PET-negative cancers were detected by CT or the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. Sensitivity and specificity were 50.0% (11 of 22) and 93.2% (1,095 of 1,175), respectively, for FDG-PET alone and 81.8% (18 of 22) and 82.0% (963 of 1,175), respectively, for the combination of imaging modalities and PSA. While FDG-PET alone is insufficient, whole-body cancer screening with selected modalities including FDG-PET has initial performance supporting possible utility by detecting a wide variety of early-stage cancers with reasonable sensitivity. However, the detection of many indolent cancers and false positives necessitate continuing study for appropriate evaluation.