Additional value of whole-body fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in the detection of distant metastases of non-small-cell lung cancer.

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the additional value of whole-body positron emission tomography (WB-PET) in the distant staging of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). One hundred forty-four patients with NSCLC in whom conventional staging (CS) was negative or equivocal for metastases, and who underwent WB-PET as part of their initial work-up, were retrospectively analyzed. Conventional staging consisted of thoracic computed tomography (CT), upper abdominal ultrasound and/or CT, and bone scintigraphy or brain CT on indication.

FDG-PET in the Locoregional Lymph Node Staging of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer. A Comprehensive Review of the Leuven Lung Cancer Group Experience.

Exact staging of locoregional lymph node (LN) disease in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is of considerable clinical interest. Computed tomography (CT) is not very accurate for this purpose. In the past years, we performed several prospective studies examining the role of [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in this setting.