open access

Vol 25, No 1 (2022)
Research paper
Submitted: 2020-07-17
Accepted: 2021-10-27
Published online: 2022-01-18
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Sensitivity of [18F]FDG PET/CT and classification of the primary tumor site in patients with carcinoma of unknown primary

Hasan Ikbal Atilgan1, Hulya Yalcin1
·
Pubmed: 35137930
·
Nucl. Med. Rev 2022;25(1):1-5.
Affiliations
  1. Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hatay, Turkey

open access

Vol 25, No 1 (2022)
Original articles
Submitted: 2020-07-17
Accepted: 2021-10-27
Published online: 2022-01-18

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to find the sensitivity of the [18F]FDG PET/CT and the classification of the primary sites of carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) as a single-center experience.


Material and methods: Sixty-eight patients with a mean age of 62.43 ± 12.78 years were included in this study retrospectively. Sixty-five patients had biopsy or surgery after PET/CT, which revealed pathological diagnoses of malign primary tumors, while primary tumor site could not be detected in three patients with histopathological examination. We evaluated the primary site of CUP with [18F]FDG PET/CT.


Results: Primary sites of three patients were not determined by histopathological examination. Malign lesions indicating the primary site of tumor were identified in 52 of 68 patients with PET/CT correctly. The primary tumor was lung cancer in 14 patients, cholangiocellular cancer in 9 patients, lymphoma in 9 patients, pancreas cancer in 6 patients, gastric cancer in 4 patients, ovary cancer in 4 patients, colon cancer in 4 patients, breast cancer in 3 patients, hepatocellular cancer in 2 patients, rectal cancer in 2 patients, sarcoma in 2 patients, esophagus, renal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer, endometrium cancer, malign melanoma, and multiple myeloma in 1 patient with histopathological examination. PET/CT was false positive in one patient. There were 13 patients in whom primary tumor could not be localized by PET/CT, but was diagnosed by histopathological evaluation.


Conclusions: PET/CT should be the first-line diagnostic tool for CUP, other diagnostic imaging tools should be applied after a negative whole-body PET/CT.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to find the sensitivity of the [18F]FDG PET/CT and the classification of the primary sites of carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) as a single-center experience.


Material and methods: Sixty-eight patients with a mean age of 62.43 ± 12.78 years were included in this study retrospectively. Sixty-five patients had biopsy or surgery after PET/CT, which revealed pathological diagnoses of malign primary tumors, while primary tumor site could not be detected in three patients with histopathological examination. We evaluated the primary site of CUP with [18F]FDG PET/CT.


Results: Primary sites of three patients were not determined by histopathological examination. Malign lesions indicating the primary site of tumor were identified in 52 of 68 patients with PET/CT correctly. The primary tumor was lung cancer in 14 patients, cholangiocellular cancer in 9 patients, lymphoma in 9 patients, pancreas cancer in 6 patients, gastric cancer in 4 patients, ovary cancer in 4 patients, colon cancer in 4 patients, breast cancer in 3 patients, hepatocellular cancer in 2 patients, rectal cancer in 2 patients, sarcoma in 2 patients, esophagus, renal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer, endometrium cancer, malign melanoma, and multiple myeloma in 1 patient with histopathological examination. PET/CT was false positive in one patient. There were 13 patients in whom primary tumor could not be localized by PET/CT, but was diagnosed by histopathological evaluation.


Conclusions: PET/CT should be the first-line diagnostic tool for CUP, other diagnostic imaging tools should be applied after a negative whole-body PET/CT.

Get Citation

Keywords

positron emission tomography-computed tomography; unknown primary tumors; 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose

About this article
Title

Sensitivity of [18F]FDG PET/CT and classification of the primary tumor site in patients with carcinoma of unknown primary

Journal

Nuclear Medicine Review

Issue

Vol 25, No 1 (2022)

Article type

Research paper

Pages

1-5

Published online

2022-01-18

Page views

6306

Article views/downloads

1052

DOI

10.5603/NMR.a2022.0002

Pubmed

35137930

Bibliographic record

Nucl. Med. Rev 2022;25(1):1-5.

Keywords

positron emission tomography-computed tomography
unknown primary tumors
18F-fluorodeoxyglucose

Authors

Hasan Ikbal Atilgan
Hulya Yalcin

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