title: Evaluation of (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT imaging in a large exclusive population of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT imaging in a large exclusive population of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Data of 141 (mean age 46.2 ± 15.2 years) patients who underwent 178 (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT studies for diagnosis/staging (n = 88) and restaging (n = 90) of pancreatic NET were retrospectively analyzed. PET/CT results were compared to conventional imaging (CIM) when available (n = 86). Histopathology and/or clinical/imaging follow-up (minimum 6 months) were used as reference standard.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT were 85.7%, 79.1%, and 84.8%. The corresponding values were 73%, 50%, and 70.4% for diagnosis/staging groups and 98.6%, 100%, and 98.8% for restaging groups. The accuracy was significantly higher for restaging as compared to diagnosis/staging (P < 0.0001) and in non-insulinoma tumors than insulinomas (P < 0.0001). The SUVmax of primary tumors was significantly higher than metastatic lesions overall (P = 0.001), as well as in diagnosis/staging (P = 0.041) and restaging (P = 0.0003) subgroups. When available, CIM was less specific than (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT (P < 0.001) and showed fewer lesions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  (68)Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT is useful for diagnosis/staging and restaging of patients with pancreatic NET. It demonstrates more lesions compared to CIM and is more specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT, Eastern Diagnostics India Ltd., Kolkata, India, dr_punitsharma@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Punit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Saurabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Varun Singh
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Dhull
authors.forename: Niraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naswa
authors.forename: Rakesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Ariachery C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ammini
authors.forename: Chandrasekhar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D018358:Neuroendocrine Tumors / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals