title: Diagnostic accuracy of (18)F-FDG-PET/CT in early and late stages of high-risk cutaneous malignant melanoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The precise role of total body (18) F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the clinical management of patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is not well established.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of PET/CT in early- and late-stage patients with high-risk CMM.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analysed various imaging, histopathological and clinical data from 97 patients also examined by PET/CT during a 5-year period (2007-2011). Three groups were assessed: stage I/II, resected stage III and unresectable stage III/stage IV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median follow-up time of living patients was 43.48 ± 19.67 (15-142) months. We observed a high diagnostic accuracy in all stages (91.3%, 92.5% and 96.2% respectively). PET/CT appeared to be reliable diagnostic tool even for the detection of small lymph node metastases. PET/CT was informative in 14 of 19 cases wherein another imaging examination provided inconclusive results regarding lesion dignity. However, PET/CT was less suitable for properly evaluating the dignity of a lung lesion. A true positive scan was twice as likely in clinically negative patients with resected stage III disease than in patients with stage I/II disease (35.9% and 14.5%, P = 0.007).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results confirm that PET/CT is an important diagnostic tool in the management of patients with high-risk CMM, but it cannot replace the standard of care examinations. More accurate clinicopathological and timing criteria must be defined to best utilize the advantages of this imaging method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gellén
authors.affiliation: Scanomed Ltd., Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sántha
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Janka
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Juhász
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Péter
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Erdei
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lukács
authors.affiliation: Scanomed Ltd., Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fedinecz
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galuska
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: É
authors.initials: É
authors.lastname: Remenyik
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Emri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18