Lung nodule characterization: can the combination of CT and FDG PET parameters improve ability to predict malignancy?

Conclusions: For characterization of lung nodules with respect to malignancy, PET parameters (FDG uptake score and presence of other metabolically active lesions) are strongly predictive of malignancy. Addition of CT variables (other than nodule size) to PET variables adds little predictive value, as these cease to be statistically significant when combined with PET variables. Absence of FDG uptake (score=1) indicates very low (less than 10%) risk of malignancy. High FDG uptake (score=4-5) indicates high risk of malignancy, and further refinement of this risk is possible with addition of age, SUVmax and presence of other metabolically active lesions outside the lungs.

Source: Journal of Nuclear Medicine - May 20, 2019 Category: Nuclear Medicine Authors: Rivera, M., Nguyen, M., Carpenter, D., Postlethwaite, D., Vu, J., Niederkohr, R. Tags: Lung Cancer Posters Source Type: research