title: Risk of malignancy in focal thyroid lesions identified by (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography or positron emission tomography/computed tomography: evidence from a large series of studies.
abstract: Focal thyroid incidentaloma identified on (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography or positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET or PET/CT) indicates a high risk of thyroid malignancy. A meta-analysis was performed to investigate whether the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) could discriminate between benign and malignant tissues in focal lesions and to explore the cutoff value of SUVmax for the diagnosis of malignancy. A total of 29 studies were involved in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the size of the two benign and malignant groups when measured by ultrasonography (95 % confidence interval (CI), -0.79 to 0.03 min; p=0.07), while a significantly higher focal SUVmax was observed in the malignant group (95 % CI, 0.34 to 1.05; p=0.0001). In conclusion, the findings of this meta-analysis suggest that a higher focal (18)F-FDG SUVmax was associated with a higher risk of thyroid malignancy, especially at a threshold of 3.3 or more.
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, 200032, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhong-wu
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Wen-jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qing-hai
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D012372:ROC Curve; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012306:Risk; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18