Diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with pancreatic neoplasm

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with pancreatic neoplasm. Methods Fifty-three patients (36 males, 17 females; age:(60.3±8.9) years) who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT examination for suspected pancreatic tumor were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-two of them underwent dual-time point imaging. The characteristics of PET/CT images and serum CA19-9 were reviewed. Pathological results were used as a gold standard for evaluating the diagnostic value of PET/CT. Two-sample t test, paired t test and ROC curve analysis were used for data analysis. Results Thirty-nine patients were finally diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the other fourteen patients with benign disease. With SUVmax cutoff value of 3.13, the sensitivity and specificity of single-time point 18F-FDG PET/CT for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer were 92.3%(36/39) and 9/14, respectively. The SUVmax was significant different between pancreatic cancer group and benign disease group (6.16±2.89 vs 3.37±1.58; t=4.46, P 0.05). With the SUVmax cutoff value of 3.3, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in the early scan were 87.0%(20/23), 6/9 and 81.2%(26/32), respectively. While with the SUVmax cutoff value of 3.0, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in the delayed scan were 95.7%(22/23), 5/9 and 84.4%(27/32), respectively. Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT is a useful tool in the differential diagnosis of benign from malignant pancreatic diseases. Key words: Pancreatic neoplasms; Tomography, emission-computed; Tomography, X-ray computed; Deoxyglucose