Diagnostic role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in recurrence detection of surgically treated gastric cancer: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Radical surgery of gastric cancer is considered as the only curative treatment; however, its poor long-term survival is often occurred due to its recurrence either local and/or distant metastasis. Thus, early detection of recurrence helps in improving the prognosis. Our aim is to assess the diagnostic role of 18F-FDG PET/CT for detecting postoperative recurrence in gastric cancer patients who have a radiological and/or clinical suspicion of recurrence. Results The study was carried over 31 males (62%) and 19 females (38%) pathologically proven with gastric carcinoma and underwent surgical intervention. All patients underwent PET/CT scan where the site and number of positive FDG activity analyzed. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for locoregional recurrence were 75%, 81.58%, and 85% with p value 0.001; for regional lymph node recurrence were 100%, 100%, and 100% with p value < 0.001; for liver metastasis were 100%, 100%, and 100% with p value < 0.001; for peritoneum metastasis were 100%, 97.38%, and 98% with p value < 0.001; and for distant metastasis were 100%, 85.7%, and 94% with p value < 0.001. Conclusion With agreements to many studies, this study confirms that FDG PET/CT is a highly effective modality for postoperative surveillance detection of recurrent gastric cancer, especially in patients with clinically manifested disease, elevated tumor markers, and an indication of distant metastasis at diagnostic CT.

Keywords

• PET/CT
• FDG uptake
• gastric cancer
• recurrence
• surgery