Abstract
Purpose
This retrospective study evaluated the diagnostic value of integrated whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography and computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) in early detection of second primary malignancies in cancer patients.
Materials and methods
From June 2007 to October 2008, 677 cancer patients who had undergone a whole-body 18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging for the purpose of initial tumor work-up were included in this study. We retrospectively analyzed the follow-up results of patients with newly detected lesions presented on the 18F-FDG-PET/CT images, which had not been previously detected by other modalities. We diagnosed suspected second primary malignancies by considering PET/CT images and clinical information as well. With the pathological results as the golden standard and complementary clinical follow-up investigations, the sensitivity and the positive-predictive value (PPV) of diagnosis of a second primary malignancy were calculated.
Results
We retrospectively analyzed the follow-up results of 338 patients with newly detected lesions. Twenty-one patients were finally diagnosed with second primary malignancies. In addition, the second primary malignancies of 17 patients were diagnosed at an early stage (P = 0.007). Thirteen patients were without any related symptoms which are indicative of second primary malignancies (P = 0.38). The median Karnofsky performance status scale of these patients in the last follow-up study was 80 points. The sensitivity of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in detecting a second primary malignancy was 95.24%, the PPV was 74.07%, which was much higher than the PPV of diagnosing with no clinical information.
Conclusion
18F-FDG-PET/CT is a useful tool in detecting second primary malignancies in an early stage and can improve the therapeutic effects experienced by the patients.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project S30203.
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We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
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Xu, H., Zhang, M., Zhai, G. et al. The clinical significance of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in early detection of second primary malignancy in cancer patients. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 136, 1125–1134 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-010-0759-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-010-0759-1