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Role of FDG-PET/CT in the assessment of suspected recurrent breast cancer
Our
study evaluated the role of FDG-PET/CT in the assessment of suspected
recurrent breast cancer in 46 patients presenting with elevated serum
tumor markers 1-21 years after their initial diagnosis, of whom 30
patients were diagnosed with tumor recurrence and 16 showed no further
evidence of disease. PET/CT
had an overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 90%, 71% and 83%,
respectively. In 37 patients
PET/CT was compared with contrast-enhanced CT and had higher sensitivity
(85% vs. 70%), specificity (76% vs. 47%) and accuracy (81% vs. 59%). In
addition, PET/CT had an impact on the management of 24 patients (51%):
chemo-or radiotherapy was started in 16 patients, treatment was modified
in two patients and six patients were referred to biopsy, followed by
referral to surgery in two. In
conclusion, integrated FDG-PET/CT is a sensitive and accurate imaging
modality and is superior to CT for the diagnosis of tumor recurrence in
patients with breast cancer and rising tumor markers. PET/CT appears to
have a role in determining the subsequent clinical management in these
patients.
Bibliographic reference:
Simona
Ben-Haim
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