Abstract
To prospectively compare prone and supine acquired 18F-FDG PET/CT for visualization of primary tumors and regional lymph nodes in stage II/III breast cancer patients. One hundred ninety-eight patients were included consecutively from August 2010 to April 2012. One hour after administration of 180-240 MBq 18F-FDG, PET/CT images of the thorax were firstly acquired in prone position. Subsequently, a standard PET/CT in supine position from skull base to thighs was made. Both sets of images were tested in a univariate and a multivariate analysis for the number of lesions per breast or lymph node (LN) region and anatomical mismatch between PET and CT images. Images in prone position showed less compression of breast tissue, more primary tumor (PT) multifocality (P < 0.001) and more avid axillary LNs (P < 0.001) compared with supine position. Anatomical mismatch of the axillary LN metastases was found more often on supine PET/CT images compared with prone (P = 0.004). Prone images showed a smaller PT functional volume compared with supine position (P < 0.001). Prone position PET/CT improved the visualization of PT multifocality and the number of detected axillary lymph nodes. Therefore, it is a valuable addition to standard supine PET/CT in the protocol for locoregional assessment in stage II/III breast cancer patients.
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