Evaluation of (18)F-FDG PET-CT for differentiation of pulmonary pathology in an approach of outpatient fast track assessment

INTRODUCTION: The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical performance/ implementation of integrated F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for differentiation of pulmonary pathology in an approach of outpatient fast track assessment.

METHODS: A prospective study was performed in 114 consecutive patients with pulmonary symptoms and/or abnormal chest x-ray were referred for fast track assessment to the Netherlands Cancer Institute from March 2005 to September 2007. The presence of malignancy was evaluated in a multidisciplinary setting, including F-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, diagnostic CT, and bronchoscopy (including biopsy), with histopathological evaluation as the reference standard.

RESULTS: In 105 patients (92%), a final diagnosis was achieved. A malignancy was diagnosed in 84% of the patients; non-small cell lung cancer in 67%, small cell lung cancer in 7%, and metastases or other malignancies in 10%. Nonmalignant lesions were found in 16% of the patients. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of positive PET/CT for the presence of malignancy were 97, 56, 90, 92, and 77%, respectively. PET/CT showed unexpected M1 disease (not detected on CT) in 10% of the patients. Almost half of the patients with a malignancy were scheduled for curative treatment, of whom 29 patients for surgery and 14 patients for chemoradiotherapy.

CONCLUSION: In this outpatient fast track setting, PET/CT provides valuable information for diagnosing lung cancer, with a high positive predictive value, and is useful for clinical decision making.