The Role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in Evaluating Elevated Levels of Tumor Markers in Breast Cancer
Journal Title: Molecular Imaging and Radionuclide Therapy - Year 2018, Vol 27, Issue 1
Abstract
Objective: Our aim was to assess the diagnostic performance of integrated positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the follow-up of breast cancer patients, who underwent a PET/CT scan due to a suspicion of recurrence based on elevated levels of serum tumor markers. Methods: Seventy-seven consecutive patients were included in this study. PET/CT scan results were compared with the final diagnoses that were obtained from histopathological sampling or a minimum 6 months of radiological follow-up. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and the diagnostic accuracy of PET/CT for detecting recurrence were calculated. Results: All 77 patients had increased serum cancer antigen 15-3 levels while 37 had increased serum carcinoembryonic antigen levels. According to PET/CT scan results, 59 of 77 patients (PET/CT positive) had local recurrence and/or distant metastasis while there was no pathological finding in 18 patients (PET/CT negative). In a follow-up of minimum 6 months, tumor recurrence was confirmed in 58 of “PET/CT positive” patients while no tumor recurrence was detected in 16 of “PET/CT negative” patients. According to these results the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and the diagnostic accuracy of PET/CT for detecting recurrence on a per-person basis were calculated as 98%, 88%, 96%, 94% and 96%, respectively. Conclusion: In case of elevated levels of serum tumor markers, PET/CT has a high diagnostic accuracy in detecting tumor recurrence in patients with breast cancer, and it is an effective modality that can be used in addition to conventional imaging techniques.
Authors and Affiliations
İnan Göktaş, Hakan Cayvarlı
Keywords
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