Positron emission tomography with fluorine-18-deoxyglucose in the detection and staging of breast cancer.
BACKGROUND
An increasing number of patients with breast cancer is being treated with preoperative chemotherapy. Evaluation of treatment response may be facilitated by positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG). This noninvasive technique may allow prediction of the chemotherapy outcome in an early phase of the treatment.


METHODS
Prerequisites for treatment monitoring with PET are good FDG uptake in the tumor, high specificity, and a reliable quantification technique. These factors were studied in 20 patients with primary breast cancer, lymph node metastases, benign breast lesions, a combination of these abnormalities, or no abnormality.


RESULTS
In 10 of 11 patients with primary breast cancer, the tumor was visualized. The median tumor-to-normal-tissue-uptake ratio was 4.9. In all five patients with increased uptake in the lymph node basin, pathologic proof of metastatic cancer was found. Of the patients with benign or no disease of the breast, slightly increased uptake was seen in one patient with fibrocystic disease.


CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that PET with FDG can be used for breast cancer imaging and staging.
Nieweg
O E
OE
Department of General Surgery, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.
Kim
E E
EE
Wong
W H
WH
Broussard
W F
WF
Singletary
S E
SE
Hortobagyi
G N
GN
Tilbury
R S
RS
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D001940:Breast / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D003847:Deoxyglucose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D003847:Deoxyglucose