Abstract

Among the patients who were operated with the diagnosis of NSCLC between January 2003-May 2004, 21 cases who had 18F-FDG-PET examination were included in this study. The results of the thorax CT and the 18F-FDG-PET were compared with the postoperative pathologies. In two cases, the sensitivity of CT was 60%, the specificity was 75%, the positive predictive value was 42.8%, the negative predictive value 85.7%, and the accuracy was 71.4%. At the 18F-FDG-PET studies, the sensitivity was 100%, the specificity was 75%, the positive predictive value was 55.5%, the negative predictive value 100%, and the accuracy was 80.9%. CT and 18F-FDG-PET staging was compared with pathological staging. The numbers of the cases remaining at the same stage, being downstaged or up-staged were determined. According to the results of thorax CT, 8 (38.1%) cases remained at the same stage, while 9 (42.8%) cases were down-staged and 4 (19.1%) cases were up-staged. The comparison of 18F-FDG-PET results with histopathological results revealed that 14 (66.6%) cases remained at the same stage, while 4 (19.1%) cases were up-staged and 3 (14.3%) were down-staged. In conclusion, 18FFDG- PET is a reliable method with its high negative predictive value for the systematic evaluation of lung cancer and the staging of the mediastinum.