CLINICAL APPLICATION AND VALUE OF FDG PET/CT IN EVALUATION OF LYMPHATIC METASTASIS OF BREAST CANCER AFTER TREATMENT

JIEXIN SHENG，DONG WEN，MENG WANG，BO WANG，ZHICHENG QUAN，GUANGJIAN HUANG，LIYING HUANG

Department of medical diagnostic imageology, Hanzhong Central Hospital, Shaanxi Province，Hanzhong723000, Shaanxi, P.R.China

Introduction: To investigate the clinical application and value of FDG PET/CT in evaluation of lymphatic metastasis of breast cancer after treatment.

Methods: In this retrospective study, FDG PET/CT reports of 87 breast cancer patients who received the treatment in this hospital between January and December in 2016 were collected and compared with the reports of traditional imaging examinations in the same period. Outcomes of patients were determined according to the case report, pathological examination and clinical fol- low-up, with which we performed statistical analysis on the accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, positive prediction value (PPV) and negative prediction value (NPV) of diagnosis for lymphatic metastasis between FDG PET/CT and traditional imaging examination. Simultaneously, 10 patients with benign lymph nodes and 10 with lymphatic metastasis were selected for calculation of the SUVmax of lymph nodes in two groups for analysis.

Results: Based on FDG PET/CT images of lymphatic metastasis, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of FDG PET/CT were 90.8%, 94.6%, 88.0%, 85.4% and 95.7%, respectively, while those of the traditional imaging examinations were 79.3%, 73.0%, 84.0%, 77.1% and 80.8%, respectively, and the differences between two groups had statistical significance. In lymphatic metastasis patients, the average of SUVmax was (8.28±3.6), significantly higher than (4.58±1.9) in those with benign lymph nodes, and the difference had statistical significance.

Conclusion: Compared with the traditional imaging examination, FDG PET/CT is more accurate in diagnosis of lymphatic metastasis in breast cancer after treatment.