The Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (Jun 2016)

Assessment of postoperative local and distant recurrence in colorectal cancer patients: Comparison between PET/CT and CECT

  • Ahmed Mohamed Hussein,
  • Mohamed Amin Nassef

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrnm.2016.02.002
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 47, no. 2
pp. 431 – 438

Abstract

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Objective: To assess the diagnostic performance of 18F-FDG PET/CT scan in the detection of recurrent disease in CRC patients who have suspected local and/or distant recurrent disease compared to contrast enhanced CT scan (CECT). Material and method: 96 CRC treated patients with suspected recurrence were examined by CECT and 18F-FDG PET/CT. Pathological results, clinical or imaging follow-up, or the responsiveness of the lesion to the treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy were reviewed for gold standard. Results: Recurrent or metastatic disease was found in 74 (77.1%) of 96 patients. Calculated sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT were 92%, 72.7%, and 88.5%. The specificity of 18F-FDG PET/CT was statistically significantly better than that of CECT as it can reduce the false positive results of CECT in 13 patients, however regarding the sensitivity. 18F-FDG PET/CT showed better value but without statistical significance. Conclusion: 18F-FDG PET/CT is a better method to evaluate postoperative CRC patients with suspected tumor recurrence or distant metastasis than CT with significantly higher specificity.

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