Comparative efficacy of positron emission tomography with FDG and computed tomographic scanning in preoperative staging of non-small cell lung cancer

• Published in: Annals of surgery Vol. 229; no. 2; pp. 286 - 291
• Main Authors: GUPTA, N. C, GRAEBER, G. M, ROGERS, J. S, BISHOP, H. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott 01.02.1999
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - secondary; Female; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Humans; Lung Neoplasms - diagnosis; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Pneumology; Preoperative Care; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surgery of the respiratory system; Tomography, Emission-Computed; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Tumors of the respiratory system and mediastinum; Radionuclide study; Human; Lung disease; Radiodiagnosis; Respiratory disease; Stage classification; Malignant tumor; Bronchopulmonary; Efficiency; Bronchus disease; Medical imagery; Computerized axial tomography; Preoperative; Comparative study; Non small cell carcinoma; Emission tomography
• DOI: 10.1097/00000658-199902000-00018
• ISSN: 0003-4932

To determine the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of positron emission tomography with 2-fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (PET-FDG) in the preoperative staging (N and M staging) of patients with lung cancer. The authors wanted to compare the efficacy of PET scanning with currently used computed tomography (CT) scanning. Results of whole-body PET-FDG imaging and CT scans were compared with histologic findings for the presence or absence of lymph node disease or metastatic sites. Sampling of mediastinal lymph nodes was performed using mediastinoscopy or thoracotomy. PET-FDG imaging was significantly more sensitive, specific, and accurate for detecting N disease than CT. PET changed N staging in 35% and M staging in 11% of patients. CT scans helped in accurate anatomic localization of 6/57 PET lymph node abnormalities. PET-FDG is a reliable method for preoperative staging of patients with lung cancer and would help to optimize management of these patients. Accurate lymph node staging of lung cancer may be ideally performed by simultaneous review of PET and CT scans.