Staging and Monitoring of Small Cell Lung Cancer Using [18F]Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET)

Abstract

PET is potentially useful for the initial staging and monitoring of patients with SCLC and it may be superior to bone scan in detecting bone metastasis. The cost effectiveness of PET scan in SCLC remains to be determined.

New insights into stage and prognosis in small cell lung cancer: an analysis of 968 cases

“…In another study with 18 patients, FDG-PET showed a more extensive disease in 2 of the 3 patients for which FDG-PET and conventional staging disagreed (14). In a third study including 21 patients (39 PET scan examinations), staging was identical when the PET results and the sum of other staging procedures were compared (15). With PET-scan, 9% of SCLCs were "upstaged" and 4% "down staged".…”

Small Cell Lung Cancer

“…[36][37][38][39][40] PET/CT is superior to PET alone. 40 Approximately 15% of patients who undergo PET are upstaged from limited-to extensive-stage, whereas only 5% are downstaged from extensive-to limited-stage.…”

Prognostic significance of (18) F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography after treatment in patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer

“…[8][9][10]13 In SCLC, prior studies have shown the importance of PET imaging in initial staging and monitoring. [14][15][16][17][18] These studies, however, included only a small number of patients and did not include post-therapy PET evaluation for prognostic purposes. Pandit et al 19 evaluated prognostic information for post-treatment PET scanning in SCLC and determined that a positive post-treatment PET scan was a predictor of poor prognosis.…”

“…A glucose level below 200 mg/dL was required before scanning. A quality control check was performed on patients suspected of exhibiting abnormal standard uptake values (SUV) before evaluating the scan by checking the max SUV of the liver (normal 26), bladder (normal 15-120), and brain (normal [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]). An intravenous line was started with patients kept in a dimly lit, quiet room for 15 minutes prior to 18 F-FDG administration and 60 minutes after the injection at which time imaging was begun.…”