Evaluation of breast masses and axillary lymph nodes with [F-18] 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose PET
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Nadia Al-Kaisi; Lee P. Adler; Joseph P. Crowe; Jeffrey L. Sunshine
- Source
- Radiology. 187(3)
- Subject
- Adult
medicine.medical_specialty
Axillary lymph nodes
Breast Neoplasms
Deoxyglucose
Sensitivity and Specificity
Metastasis
Breast cancer
Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
medicine
Humans
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging
skin and connective tissue diseases
Lymph node
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
medicine.diagnostic_test
business.industry
Pet imaging
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Axilla
Dissection
medicine.anatomical_structure
Positron emission tomography
Lymphatic Metastasis
Female
Radiology
Lymph Nodes
business
Nuclear medicine
Tomography, Emission-Computed
- Language
- ISSN
- 0033-8419
Twenty-eight patients with a total of 35 suspect breast masses underwent positron emission tomography (PET) with [fluorine-18] 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) in order to study the utility of this technique in the evaluation of breast cancer. FDG PET allowed discrimination between eight benign and 27 malignant breast masses, with a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 100%. Among the malignancies, there was a significant correlation between normalized FDG uptake and nuclear grade (P = .006). In addition, the results of PET imaging were compared with results of axillary node dissection in 20 cases of breast cancer. PET allowed correct categorization of 10 of 10 axillae as negative (specificity = 100%). PET results were equivocal in one axilla and positive in the remaining nine of 10 axillae with positive dissection results (sensitivity = 90%). The authors conclude that FDG PET may give useful information on breast masses and axillary node status prior to surgery.