Positron emission tomography in the staging of small-cell lung cancer : a preliminary study.
OBJECTIVE
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) has an unfavorable prognosis, especially when the disease is extensive at presentation. Accurate staging procedures are therefore needed for treatment planning. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a modern noninvasive imaging technique, the value of which for the staging of SCLC was investigated in the present study.


METHODS
University hospital.


METHODS
Thirty-one patients with suspected lung cancer were investigated for staging purposes using chest radiography, CT of the thorax and abdomen, abdominal ultrasound, and bone scanning. Twenty-five patients also received PET examinations during the staging procedures. Five of these patients were found to have SCLC, while two patients had mixed lesion types. Further analysis of the latter group was carried out.


RESULTS
PET detected the primary tumor in all patients, and lymph nodes in five patients. All lymph nodes were proved to be malignant by endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration. Only one patient had distant metastases, which were detected by both CT and PET.


CONCLUSIONS
PET appears be a suitable imaging method in SCLC. A potential role for the technique as a standard staging procedure will need to be tested by investigating a larger number of patients in a prospective study.
Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. hhauber@uke.uni-hamburg.de
H P
HP
Hauber
K H
KH
Bohuslavizki
C H
CH
Lund
A
A
Fritscher-Ravens
A
A
Meyer
A
A
Pforte
D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed