title: A follow-up analysis of positron emission tomography/computed tomography in detecting hidden malignancies at the time of diagnosis of membranous nephropathy.
abstract: Membranous nephropathy (MN) is the most common kidney disease reported in a variety of malignant diseases. Search for an occult malignancy in MN has presented special challenges. 124 MN patients with a physical examination not suspicious for cancer underwent screening for an occult malignancy with either 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scanning (n = 49) or conventional screening (n = 75) at the time of diagnosis of MN, and were followed up (median,28 months). 154 patients who refused to undergo any screening were followed up (median, 30 months). In FDG-PET/CT cohort, 5 (10.20%) patients were screened and confirmed as malignancy, in contrast, 1 (1.33%) patient in conventional screening cohort. During follow-up, none of malignancy was detected in FDG-PET/CT cohort, 3(4.05%) patients in conventional screening cohort, and 8(5.19%) patients in no-screening cohort. All 6 cases of cancer were detected at early stages and underwent curative resection, and after the resection, proteinuria decreased. In contrast, 11 cases of cancer detected during follow-up died without any remission of proteinuria. These preliminary data provide the first evidence for a potential cancer surveillance that the malignancy screening either through conventional or by PET-CT at the diagnosis of MN led to an early diagnosis and curative treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhonglin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shuxia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Center of Guangdong Women and Children Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yanlin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xinling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D015433:Glomerulonephritis, Membranous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009382:Neoplasms, Unknown Primary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D000072078:Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: PET/CT; Pathology Section; malignancy; membranous nephropathy