Staging in patients with locoregionally recurrent breast cancer: current practice and prospects for positron emission tomography.
The aim of this study was to describe the extent and yield of daily clinical practice when staging patients with a locoregional recurrence (LRR) of breast carcinoma and to explore the prospects for positron emission tomography (PET). The population-based Eindhoven Cancer Registry was used to select all breast cancer patients in the southeast of the Netherlands with a first episode of LRR between January 1, 1994 and June 30, 2000 (n = 175). Additional data concerning staging procedures and follow-up were collected from the medical records. Furthermore, we asked 77 physicians (response: 75%) about their opinions on staging procedures and actual treatment policy. At LRR presentation, 16% of patients were found to have distant metastases. An additional 24% were diagnosed with distant metastases within 18 months. The questionnaire revealed that 33% of clinicians thought that the sensitivity of conventional imaging techniques was too low. We tend to conclude that in daily clinical practice there is a need for more sensitive dissemination tests for patients with a LRR of breast cancer.
van Oost
F J
FJ
Eindhoven Cancer Registry, Comprehensive Cancer Center South (IKZ), P.O. Box 231, 5600 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands. research@ikz.nl
van der Hoeven
J J M
JJ
Hoekstra
O S
OS
Voogd
A C
AC
Coebergh
J W W
JW
van de Poll-Franse
L V
LV
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18