title: Staging with PET-CT in patients with locally advanced non small cell lung cancer is superior to conventional staging methods in terms of survival.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Of patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), around one third are locally advanced at the time of diagnosis. Because only a proprotion of stage III patients can be cured by surgery, in order to improve the outcomes, sequential or concurrent chemoradiation, or concurrent chemoradiation with induction or consolidation is offered to the patients with locally advanced NSCLC. Today, PET combined with computerized tomography (PET-CT) is accepted as the most sensitive technique for detecting mediastinal lymph node and extracranial metastases from NSCLC. We aimed to compare PET-CT and conventional staging procedures for decisions regarding curative treatment of locally advanced NSCLC.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 168 consecutive patients were included from Acibadem Kayseri Hospital, Acibadem Adana Hospital and Kayseri Research and Training Hospital in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While the median PFS was 13.0 ± 1.9 months in the PET-CT group, it was only 6.0 ± 0.9 in the others (p<0.001). The median OS values were 20.5 ± 15.6 and 11.5 ± 1.5 months, respectively (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As a result, we found that staging with PET CT has better results in terms of survival staging. This superiority leads to survival advantage in patients with locally advanced NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Acibadem Kayseri Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey. doktorhasanmutlu@gmail.com
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mutlu
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buyukcelik
authors.forename: Abdulsamet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erden
authors.forename: Tuncay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.forename: Zeki
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Akca
authors.forename: Eser
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kibar
authors.forename: Ertugrul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seyrek
authors.forename: Sinan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yavuz
authors.forename: Zuleyha
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Calikusu
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed