Abstract
Purpose
We aimed at investigating whether early metabolic response to corticosteroid therapy may be used as a diagnostic tool to discriminate between cancer and sarcoidosis, a well-known cause of false-positive 2-deoxy-2-[F-18]fluoro-d-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) findings in oncology.
Procedure
Two cancer patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis or sarcoid-like reaction had multiple thoracic FDG foci. After infectious disease had been excluded, patients received oral corticosteroids for 16 and 14 days, respectively, and underwent posttherapeutic FDG-PET examination.
Results
Posttreatment PET revealed a complete metabolic response in both patients, and clinical and imaging follow-up showed no sign of cancer progression.
Conclusion
Early metabolic response to systemic corticosteroid treatment may be used as a tool in the establishment of final diagnosis when sarcoidosis is suspected in a cancer patient and could be capable of differentiating cancer from sarcoidosis in the case of coexisting diseases.
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Acknowledgement
Dr. Fabrice Gutman is thanked for his critical review of the manuscript.
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Aide, N., Allouache, D., Ollivier, Y. et al. Early 2′-Deoxy-2′-[18F]Fluoro-d-Glucose PET Metabolic Response after Corticosteroid Therapy to Differentiate Cancer from Sarcoidosis and Sarcoid-like Lesions. Mol Imaging Biol 11, 224–228 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-008-0191-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11307-008-0191-y