Fusion of PET and MRI for staging of uterine cervical cancer: comparison with contrast-enhanced 18F-FDG PET/CT and pelvic MRI

Abstract

PurposeTo investigate the fusion of pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) for assessment of locoregional extension and nodal staging of cervical cancer. MethodsPET/computed tomography (CT), MRI, and non-fused and fusion of PET and MRI for assessing the extent of the primary tumor and metastasis to nodes were evaluated. ResultsAccuracy for T-status was 83.3% for fused and non-fused PET/MRI and MRI proved significantly more accurate than PET/CT (53.3%) (P=.0077). Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for nodal metastasis were 92.3%, 88.2%, and 90.0% for fused PET/MRI and PET/contrast-enhanced CT; 84.6%, 94.1%, and 90.0% for non-fused PET/MRI; and 69.2%, 100%, and 86.7% for MRI. ConclusionFused PET/MRI combines the individual advantages of MRI and PET.