American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jan 1996
Comparative StudyFluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography in the detection and staging of lung cancer.
Glycolysis is increased in tumor tissues. [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) is a glucose analogue radiopharmaceutical used in positron emission tomography (PET) to trace glucose metabolism. We investigated the sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET imaging in the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer. One hundred and seven patients who had abnormal chest roentgenograms underwent whole-body PET imaging using FDG. ⋯ Seven of these patients had lymphadenopathy on computed tomography. FDG-PET imaging is 100% accurate in predicting mediastinal involvement in patients with lung cancer. It is 100% sensitive and 52% specific in predicting the malignant nature of a chest radiographic abnormality.