01.10.2009 | Editorial Commentary
Should FDG PET/CT be used for the initial staging of breast cancer?
Erschienen in: European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging | Ausgabe 10/2009
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Previous studies have pointed to the suboptimal sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET in assessing axillary lymph node status in breast cancer patients [1, 2]. In this issue of The European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Heusner and colleagues from the University Hospital of Essen bring further evidence to this statement. The study shows that contrast-enhanced full-dose FDG PET/CT is also not able to replace the sentinel lymph node biopsy technique (SLNB) or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) for axillary staging [3]. The authors retrospectively examined the data of 61 consecutive women with histopathologically confirmed breast cancer who had received an i.v. contrast-enhanced whole-body FDG PET/CT. Twenty-four patients (39%) had preoperative clinical stage T1 [4], while the others had larger tumours. In all patients, the ipsilateral axilla was assessed for lymph node metastases either with SLNB, ALND or both. …Anzeige