title: Selective axillary surgery in breast cancer patients based on positron emission tomography with 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose: not yet!
abstract: We prospectively evaluated 31 patients with invasive breast cancer. Preoperative positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) for detection of axillary lymph node metastases was compared with the histopathologic status of the sentinel lymph node (SLN). Sensitivity of PET imaging was 43%, specificity and negative predictive value were 94 and 67%, respectively. The smallest metastasis detected by PET measured 3 mm in diameter. The results of this study suggest that detection of small axillary lymph node metastases is limited by the currently achievable spatial resolution of PET imaging. Selective axillary surgery in breast cancer patients based on 18F-FDG PET is yet not possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Guller
authors.forename: Egbert U
authors.initials: EU
authors.lastname: Nitzsche
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schirp
authors.forename: Carsten T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Viehl
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torhorst
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moch
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: Walter R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oertli
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Harder
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zuber
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000379:methods*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18