¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis of breast tumor

Objective: To evaluate the clinical role of ¹⁸F fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) in the diagnosis of breast tumor. Methods: ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT was performed on 45 patients with suspected breast cancer. The ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT images were analyzed visually and semi-quantitatively by calculating the maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of the two evaluating methods were compared with histology. Results: Of the 45 lesions, 8 were benign and 37 were malignant with lymphadenopathy in 17 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were 91.2%, 87.5%, 97.1%, 70%, 91.1%, respectively for cut-off SUVmax of 2.5 compared to 89.2%, 62.5%, 91.7%, 55.6%, 84.4% by visual assessment. Conclusions: PET/CT may be useful in differentiating benign and malignant breast tumors. (authors)