Pattern of Lung Cancer Metastasis Based on Pet Ct

Abstract

BACKGROUND Accurate staging is the cornerstone in management of lung cancer. It helps to determine the therapeutic modality and to assess prognosis. More than half of bronchogenic carcinomas have distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Presence of metastasis confers stage 4 for the disease. Presence of metastasis also increases patient morbidity and mortality. So the knowledge of pattern and sites of metastasis in bronchogenic carcinoma is crucial for its detection and management. Staging of bronchogenic carcinoma is one of the important indications for Positron Emission Tomography. Combined Computed tomography and PET (PET-CT) is superior to either modality alone in staging of lung cancer. It helps in identifying the site and morphology of lesion. Aims and Objectives-1. To determine the sites of metastases in Bronchogenic carcinoma by PETCT 2. To compare sites of metastases with the histological cell type MATERIALS AND METHODS It was a hospital based retrospective study involving 78 patients with histologically proven bronchogenic carcinoma who underwent PETCT scan from June 2016-May 2017 in A J Institute of medical sciences, Mangalore. The sites of metastasis were noted. Brain metastasis was not included as MRI is a more sensitive tool. The sites of metastases as determined by PETCT were compared with histological cell type of bronchogenic carcinoma.