Whole-body FDG PET/CT is more accurate than conventional imaging for staging primary breast cancer patients

Abstract

Full-dose, intravenous contrast-enhanced FDG PET/CT was more accurate than conventional imaging for initial breast cancer staging due to the higher detection rate of metastases and synchronous tumours, although the study had several limitations including a retrospective design, a possible selection bias and a relevant false-positive rate for the detection of axillary lymph node metastases. FDG PET/CT resulted in a change of treatment in a substantial proportion of patients.

18F-FDG PET/CT in breast cancer: Evidence-based recommendations in initial staging

“…35 Evidence level IV, weak recommendation. 14,20,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] For more detailed information, see Table 7. Question (d): Do 18F-FDG PET/CT findings result in a significant change in therapeutic management?…”

Diagnostic Value of18F-FDG PET/CT in Comparison to Bone Scintigraphy, CT and18F-FDG PET for the Detection of Bone Metastasis

“…Other clinical evidence also showed that PET was more competitive than BS for esophagus, thyroid, nasopharyngeal and lung cancer (Kato et al, 2005;Shinji et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2010;Chang et al, 2013), just as our data shown. BS and SPECT identify osteoblastic responses while 18 F-FDG uptake detecting by PET is related to increase intratumoural glycosis (Masi et al, 2001;Riegger et al, 2012). 18 F-FDG PET should have better sensitivity and specificity than SPECT or BS because by imaging tumor metabolism directly with 18 F-FDG, detection may occur earlier than abnormal 99mTc-MDP accumulation, required for an identifiable bone reaction (Zaman et al, 2011;Lagaru et al, 2013).…”

Staging of Breast Cancer

“…Riegger and colleagues reported on 106 breast cancer patients who received FDG-PET/CT and conventional imaging [ 51 ]. In 13 % of the cases, PET/CT detected synchronous tumors, nodal metastasis, or distant metastases not seen with conventional imaging (Fig.…”

“…FDG-PET/CT has been suggested to be more accurate for staging breast cancer than conventional imaging modalities such as plain chest radiography, bone scintigraphy, and axillary and liver ultrasound [ 51 ]. Riegger and colleagues reported on 106 breast cancer patients who received FDG-PET/CT and conventional imaging [ 51 ].…”