Effect of blood glucose level on standardized uptake value (SUV) in 18F- FDG PET-scan: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 20,807 individual SUV measurements.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of pre-scan blood glucose levels (BGL) on standardized uptake value (SUV) in 18F-FDG-PET scan. METHODS: A literature review was performed in the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane library databases. Multivariate regression analysis was performed on individual datum to investigate the correlation of BGL with SUVmax and SUVmean adjusting for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus diagnosis, 18F-FDG injected dose, and time interval. The ANOVA test was done to evaluate differences in SUVmax or SUVmean among five different BGL groups (< 110, 110-125, 125-150, 150-200, and > 200 mg/dl). RESULTS: Individual data for a total of 20,807 SUVmax and SUVmean measurements from 29 studies with 8380 patients was included in the analysis. Increased BGL is significantly correlated with decreased SUVmax and SUVmean in brain (p < 0.001, p < 0.001,) and muscle (p < 0.001, p < 0.001) and increased SUVmax and SUVmean in liver (p = 0.001, p = 0004) and blood pool (p = 0.008, p < 0.001). No significant correlation was found between BGL and SUVmax or SUVmean in tumors. In the ANOVA test, all hyperglycemic groups had significantly lower SUVs compared with the euglycemic group in brain and muscle, and significantly higher SUVs in liver and blood pool. However, in tumors only the hyperglycemic group with BGL of > 200 mg/dl had significantly lower SUVmax. CONCLUSION: If BGL is lower than 200 mg/dl no interventions are needed for lowering BGL, unless the liver is the organ of interest. Future studies are needed to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET scan in diagnosis of malignant lesions in hyperglycemia.

A case of relapsing polychondritis mimicking lung cancer.

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare autoimmune disease, characterized by episodic inflammatory attacks on cartilaginous tissue. Elastic cartilage of the ears and nose, hyaline cartilage of the peripheral joints, vertebral fibrocartilage, tracheobronchial cartilage, and tissues rich in proteoglycan such as those in the eyes, heart, blood vessels, and inner ear are more likely to be affected. A 35-year-old male presented with complaints of hoarseness, tinnitus and dyspnea for 19 years, with a history of several diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for laryngeal and respiratory tract. He was diagnosed to have inflammation of the tracheobronchial cartilage, cardiac valvulopathy and conductive hearing loss after intensive diagnostic studies. He responded well to low-dose steroids in combination with methotrexate. RP is a diagnostically challenging condition and may cause significant morbidities during diagnosis. RP should be considered in differential diagnosis of airway obstruction as a rare condition.

When to Consider Invasive Lymph Node Staging in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer? A Novel Scoring System Utilising Metabolic Parameters in 18F-FDG PET/CT.

OBJECTIVE: The maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax) is a widely utilised metric in positron emission tomography/computed tomography for clinically staging non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), yet the reliability of SUVmax remains controversial. We herein aimed to assess the effectiveness of semi-quantitative parameters, encompassing size, SUVmax, metabolic tumour volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG) and heterogeneity factor (HF), in evaluating both primary tumours and lymph nodes (LNs) on positron emission tomography/computed tomography. A novel scoring system was devised to appraise the role of semi-quantitative parameters and visually evaluate LNs for nodal staging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with pathological NSCLC, diagnosed between 2014 and 2019 and clinically staged I-III, were enrolled in the study. Patient demographics, including age, sex, tumour location, diameter, tumour-node-metastasis stage, as well as SUVmax, MTV, TLG and HF parameters of primary tumours and LNs, were documented. RESULTS: The analysis comprised 319 patients and 963 LNs. Patients had a mean age of 61.62 years, with 91.5% being male. Adenocarcinoma exhibited a histological association with LN metastasis (P=0.043). The study findings revealed that tumour size, SUVmax, MTV, TLG and HF did not significantly affect the detection of LN metastasis. Conversely, non-squamous cell carcinoma, LNs exhibiting higher FDG levels than the liver, LN size, SUVmax, MTV and TLG were identified as risk factors (P<0.0001). The identified cut-off values were 1.05cm for LN size, 4.055 for SUVmax, 1.805cm3 for MTV and 5.485 for TLG. The scoring system incorporated these parameters, and visual assessment indicated that a score of ≥3 increased the risk of metastasis by 14.33 times. CONCLUSION: We devised a novel scoring system and demonstrated that LNs with a score of ≥3 in patients with NSCLC have a high likelihood of metastasis. This innovative scoring system can serve as a valuable tool to mitigate excessive and extreme measures in the assessment of invasive pathological staging.

Potential role of pre-treatment bone marrow SUVmean to liver SUVmean ratio (BM/L) and comparison of primary tumour FDG uptake with brain FDG uptake in predicting survival in limited-stage lung cancers.

INTRODUCTION: The survival rates of patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer are low despite curative treatment. Accordingly, we investigated the disease prognosis by comparing the pre-treatment bone marrow mean standardised uptake values (SUVmean) / liver SUVmean ratio (BM/L) and primary tumour FDG uptake and brain FDG uptake to prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was an observational, retrospective, single-centre study of patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer. Maximum standardised uptake values before treatment SUVmax, mean SUV (SUVmean), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), liver (KC) SUVmean, bone marrow SUVmean, BM/L ratio (grouped as BM/L <1 and BM/L<1), FDG uptake level of the primary tumour are higher than brain FDG uptake. The association of low prevalence with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was evaluated. DISCUSSION: A total of 125 patients were included in the study. The risk of death was found to be two times higher in patients with primary tumour FDG uptake higher than brain FDG uptake compared to those with less brain involvement. The risk of death in patients with BM/L>1 was found to be 1.6 times higher than in patients with BM/L<1. CONCLUSION: Comparison of BM/L, FDG uptake of the primary tumour and brain FDG uptake as new prognostic parameters can be guiding in the classification of patients with LD-SCLC with a higher risk of death or progression and in planning new treatment strategies.

Relationships Between Systemic Inflammatory Markers and 18F-FDG PET/CT Imaging and Clinical Findings in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis.

Background and aim Sarcoidosis is a multisystem inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between systemic inflammatory parameters, the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and disease stage, clinical findings, and 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) uptake. Materials and methods Our study included 73 patients. The general characteristics, radiological features, spirometric tests, PET/CT findings, and laboratory parameters of the patients were recorded. Results Relapse and parenchymal fibrosis were not associated with metabolic parameters, such as LMR and SII. Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) levels were lower in the relapsed group than in the non-relapse group. However, the patients' PET/CT images indicated that 18F-FDG parenchym maximum standard uptake value (SUV max), lymph node SUV max, lymph node short axis dimension, SII, and LMR were similar between all patients, relapsed or not. Conclusion Although found to be significant in other inflammatory diseases, we found that SII and LMR alone did not indicate disease prognosis in sarcoidosis due to the small number of patients and the lack of homogeneity between the groups in our study. The usefulness of these markers for clinical use should be investigated by studies that include those with extrapulmonary sarcoidosis, and that calculate these markers at the time of disease diagnosis and during the post-treatment period.

FDG PET/CT Imaging Findings of Renal Infarction in a Patient With Gastric Adenocarcinoma.

ABSTRACT: We report the FDG PET/CT findings of renal infarction in a 75-year-old woman patient who received chemotherapy for gastric adenocarcinoma. The patient was referred to our hospital for the evaluation of her response to chemotherapy. PET/CT detected circumferential increased FDG uptake in the outer part of the left renal cortex. The remaining of the renal cortex was photopenic. Abdominal CT angiography showed no contrast enhancement within the renal parenchyma. There was no contrast enhancement in the lumen of the left renal artery. These findings were thought to be consistent with the left renal infarct due to the occlusion of the left renal artery.

Clinical and radiological characteristics of pulmonary actinomycosis mimicking lung malignancy.

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary actinomycosis, clinically and radiologically, mimics abscess, tuberculosis, and lung malignancy, resulting in misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis. In this study, we analyzed the clinicoradiological features of pulmonary actinomycosis, the presence of any differences between clinical prediagnosis and radiological diagnosis, and whether imaging modalities help distinguish pulmonary actinomycosis from lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 22 patients who had a histopathological diagnosis of actinomycosis in a tertiary health center participated in this study. Of these, 14 had positron-emission tomography/computed tomography. RESULTS: In all, 81.8% of the patients were males. The diagnostic procedures employed for the diagnosis of actinomycosis were surgery in 54.5% of patients, fiberoptic bronchoscopy in 36.4% of patients, and rigid bronchoscopy in 9.1% of patients. Radiological and clinical prediagnosis showed malignancy in 31.8 and 40.9% of patients, respectively. The mean of the maximum standardized uptake value was 6.33±3.6 on positron-emission tomography/computed tomography. Kappa compliance analysis revealed that clinical and radiological diagnoses were significantly compatible with each other and that radiological pre-diagnoses were not superior to clinical diagnoses (κ=0.701 and p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Pulmonary actinomycosis shows high metabolic uptake in positron-emission tomography/computed tomography, and this may mislead clinicians for a diagnosis of malignancy. Our results suggest that positron-emission tomography/computed tomography does not help distinguish pulmonary actinomycosis from lung malignancy and does not provide a clear diagnostic benefit to the clinician, so pathological diagnosis is necessary.

Contribution of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the Differential Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hamartomas and Pulmonary Carcinoids

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate 18fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) findings in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary carcinoids and pulmonary hamartomas. Methods: 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of 34 patients with pulmonary carcinoids (12 atypical, 22 typical) and 32 patients with pulmonary hamartomas were retrospectively evaluated. Both mean diameter and mean maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of hamartomas and carcinoids were compared by Mann-Whitney U and Kruskall-Wallis H tests. Results: The mean longest diameter of atypical carcinoids (3.5±1.7 cm) was higher than that of hamartomas (2.1±1 cm) (p=0.038). No significant difference was found between the mean diameter of typical carcinoids and mean diameter of hamartomas (p=0.128). The mean SUVmax of atypical carcinoids (5.97±3.7) and typical carcinoids (4.22±1.7) were higher than those of hamartomas (1.65±0.9) (p=0.002 and p=0.003, respectively). There were collapse/consolidation in 55.8%, bronchiectasis or mucoid impaction in 47%, and air trapping in 14.7% in the peripheral parenchyma of the 34 carcinoids. Collapse/consolidation was detected in a patient with endobronchial hamartoma, and other finding was not found in the parenchyma around hamartomas. Conclusion: The 18F-FDG uptake of pulmonary carcinoids can vary from minimal to intense. 18F-FDG uptake can be seen in pulmonary hamartomas. However, the mean SUVmax of atypical carcinoids and typical carcinoids were higher compared to hamartomas. Pulmonary carcinoid must be suspected in cases with accompanying bronchial obstruction findings in the periphery of the mass.

Presentation of genital tuberculosis detected on FDG PET/CT scan resembling a primary gynecologic tumor and metastases.

Gastric cancer (GC) is a common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. In addition to the patient's clinical history and clinical examination, nuclear medicine tools are required for diagnosis. [¹8F]FDG PET/CT has been commonly used for cancer patients for staging, restaging, evaluation of treatment response. This study aimed to review the current literature on the role of [¹8F]FDG PET/CT for GC management.

Is 18F-FDG PET/CT capable of differential diagnosis from tuberculous pleurisy from malignant mesothelioma?

AIM: 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/computerized tomography (CT) is a valuable method in the diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). But, some infections, particularly tuberculosis, are known to mimic cancer. We aimed to compare the FDG PET/CT findings of tuberculosis pleurisy (TP) and malignant mesothelioma and evaluate its role of differential diagnosis. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed the data from 85 patients (45 patients with MPM and 40 patients with TP) who underwent FDG PET/CT. All images were reevaluated and pleural thickening, maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax), lymphatic uptake and accompanying parenchymal findings were noted. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in age and sex between the two groups. Pleural thickening was more prominent in the MPM group. Mean pleural thickness was 21.4 ± 18.6 mm in the MPM group and 6.8 ± 3.5 mm in the TP group (P = 0.0). Besides pleural pathology, lymph nodes involvement in the thoracic (P = 0.0) and extrathoracic area (P = 0.34) and parenchymal findings were prominent in the TP group (P = 0.0). However, there was no significant difference in pleural SUVmax values between the two groups (P = 0.61). CONCLUSION: Intense pleural FDG uptake can be observed in TP like malignant mesothelioma. For the evaluation of the pleural pathologies in the tuberculosis endemic countries, it should be considered that FDG PET/CT may have false-positive results. Evaluation of increased pleural FDG uptake together with the detected parenchymal findings and lymphatic involvement may help us to make more accurate interpretation of the diagnosis.

Could SUVmax be an auxiliary parameter in the clinical management of pulmonary hydatid disease?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hydatid disease and also compare the morphological characteristics of the lesions with SUVmax values and identify complicated disease. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary hydatid disease who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging were included in this retrospective study. The size of the lesions, morphological characteristics, accompanying parenchymal and pleural findings, SUVmax and HUmean values and FDG uptake in mediastinal lymph nodes were noted. The relationship between morphologic properties, SUVmax of the lesions and lymphatic FDG uptake was analysed. RESULTS: A total of 99 lesions of 36 patients were classified as solid (7.1%), cystic (53.5%), semisolid (20.2%) and cavitary (19.2%). Thirty-two of the lesions were encapsulated, 38 of the lesions had border irregularity. Accompanying consolidation was present in 10 cases, bronchial obstruction in 9, pleural thickening in 28 and effusion in 3. There was positive correlation between lesions HUmean and SUVmax values (r = 0.285). SUVmax values were significantly higher in lesions with irregular borders, solid or semisolid type and presence of consolidation, bronchial obstruction and pleural thickening. Also more lymphatic FDG uptake was detected in this group. CONCLUSION: Higher SUVmax values may be a useful parameter in the diagnosis of complicated pulmonary hydatid disease. FDG-PET may provide guidance for determining the priority of lesion for surgery in cases with multiple lesions and may be helpful to evaluate the response to medical treatment.

Paclitaxel-induced dermal hypersensitivity lesions: 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

Paclitaxel is frequently used for the treatment of patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer. Hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) have been one of the toxicities observed with administration of paclitaxel. Here, we presented a case of a 49-year-old man with a history of right lung mass proven by biopsy to be a nonsmall cell lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) who developed HSR during therapy. In addition to the hypermetabolic primary malignancy, a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan showed multiple hypermetabolic skin lesions at several parts of the body. These cutaneous lesions were resolved in the restaging PET/CT scan performed after completion of the six cycles of chemotherapy. This is the first documented case of comparative PET/CT findings of a paclitaxel-induced hypersensitivity.

Clinical and radiological characteristics of pulmonary actinomycosis mimicking lung malignancy

SUMMARY INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary actinomycosis, clinically and radiologically, mimics abscess, tuberculosis, and lung malignancy, resulting in misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis. In this study, we analyzed the clinicoradiological features of pulmonary actinomycosis, the presence of any differences between clinical prediagnosis and radiological diagnosis, and whether imaging modalities help distinguish pulmonary actinomycosis from lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 22 patients who had a histopathological diagnosis of actinomycosis in a tertiary health center participated in this study. Of these, 14 had positron-emission tomography/computed tomography. RESULTS: In all, 81.8% of the patients were males. The diagnostic procedures employed for the diagnosis of actinomycosis were surgery in 54.5% of patients, fiberoptic bronchoscopy in 36.4% of patients, and rigid bronchoscopy in 9.1% of patients. Radiological and clinical prediagnosis showed malignancy in 31.8 and 40.9% of patients, respectively. The mean of the maximum standardized uptake value was 6.33±3.6 on positron-emission tomography/computed tomography. Kappa compliance analysis revealed that clinical and radiological diagnoses were significantly compatible with each other and that radiological pre-diagnoses were not superior to clinical diagnoses (κ=0.701 and p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Pulmonary actinomycosis shows high metabolic uptake in positron-emission tomography/computed tomography, and this may mislead clinicians for a diagnosis of malignancy. Our results suggest that positron-emission tomography/computed tomography does not help distinguish pulmonary actinomycosis from lung malignancy and does not provide a clear diagnostic benefit to the clinician, so pathological diagnosis is necessary.

The Correlation Between Pre-treatment Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Parameters and Clinical Prognostic Factors in Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma.

OBJECTIVE: To compare standardized uptake values (SUV) derived from pre-treatment 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging and clinical prognostic factors in pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). METHODS: Pre-treatment FDG PET/CT findings of 28 children with HL were evaluated in this retrospective study. Metabolic tumor volume (MTV), SUVmax normalized by weight (SUVweight), lean body mass (SUVlbm), body surface area (SUVbsa) and plasma glucose levels of tumors (SUVglucose) were calculated using pre-treatment FDG PET/CT scan images. These metabolic parameters were correlated with clinical factors [age, sex, number of lymph node groups, presence of splenic involvement, bulky mediastinal disease, Ann Arbor stage, serum white blood cell (WBC) count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), serum albumin and hemoglobin levels]. RESULTS: SUVbsa, SUVlbm, SUVweight, SUVglucose and MTV were higher in patients with stage III-IV disease, bulky tumor and ≥3 lymph node groups (p<0.05). SUVbsa and SUVglucose were higher in patients with splenic involvement (p<0.05). There was no significant correlation between these metabolic parameters and sex, ESR, levels of albumin and WBC (p>0.05). SUVbsa and SUVlbm were higher in patients with anemia (p<0.05). Additionally, significant increases were detected in SUVweight, MTV, and SUVglucose with increasing age (p=0.005, p=0.027, and p=0.009, respectively). SUVbsa and SUVlbm had no significant correlation with age (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Metabolic parameters derived from pre-treatment FDG PET/CT may have an important role in predicting high-risk disease in patients with HL. Also, SUVbsa and SUVlbm may be better markers than SUVweight in the quantitative evaluation of FDG PET/CT scans in pediatric patients.

18F-FDG PET/CT Imaging of Hodgkin Lymphoma in a Child with Common Variable Immunodeficiency.

Common variable immunodeficiency is characterized by low levels of serum immunoglobulins and antibodies, recurrent infections, and a predisposition to malignancy. Here, we present the 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of a 7-y-old boy with common variable immunodeficiency and Hodgkin lymphoma.

Occipital Hypometabolism on FDG PET/CT Scan in a Child with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

It is known that Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) images may be helpful for evaluation of brain function in newborns. Here we described the fluorine-18 [18-F] FDG PET/CT imaging findings of encephalomalacia due to perinatal asphyxia in a child with refractory Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) who underwent PET/CT scan to stage the primary disease. Prominent hypometabolism was incidentally detected in the occipital regions bilaterally apart from the FDG uptakes in the malign lymphatic infiltrations. This case highlights the potential coexistence of a malignancy and a functional brain disorder.

The potential value of volume-based quantitative PET parameters and increased bone marrow uptake for the prediction of survival in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between volume-based quantitative PET parameters and survival in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and to evaluate the potential value of bone marrow (BM) uptake in predicting prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the data of 51 patients with MPM who underwent initial staging by fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET/computerized tomography (PET/CT). F-FDG-PET images were visually and quantitatively re-evaluated and maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmax), mean standardized uptake values (SUVmean), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis of primary tumors, and pleural thickening were calculated. In addition, BM and liver uptakes were measured; also, the degree of BM uptake was scored visually. BM/liver ratio and visual BM uptake score were noted. The correlations between quantitative PET parameters, BM uptake, and overall survival were analyzed. RESULTS: F-FDG-PET scans upstaged 6 (11.8%) of 51 patients because of detection of previously unknown distant metastasis. On univariate analysis, advanced disease stage, high leukocyte count (≥10×10/ml), pleural thickening greater than 13 mm, SUVmax, SUVmean, MTV, total lesion glycolysis, BM/liver greater than 1.01, and visual score 1 and 2 were negative prognostic factors (P<0.05). In multivariate analysis, SUVmax greater than 8.6 [P=0.027, hazard ratio (HR): 2.961], MTV greater than 112 (P=0.001, HR: 4.861), and visual score 2 (P=0.035, HR: 3.827) were associated independently with a poor prognosis. CONCLUSION: The presence of distant metastasis is more predictive of survival than PET nodal status in MPM patients. PET/CT has the potential to provide prognostic information in MPM patients and there was a good correlation between overall survival and volume-based PET parameters. Determination of BM uptake may contribute toward the prediction of patient outcome with other quantitative PET parameters.

Correlation of Ki-67 proliferation index and 18-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in colorectal incidental lesions detected by positron emission tomography-computed tomography.

BACKGROUND/AIM: To investigate whether focal high maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) determined by 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) imaging is correlated with proliferation index in the colorectal region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SUVmax values of 31 colorectal neoplasms that were incidentally detected during PET-CT examination were compared to dysplasia degree, histopathologic diagnosis, and immunohistochemical expression of the Ki-67 proliferation marker. RESULTS: Statistically significant correlations were found between SUVmax and Ki-67 proliferation index, dysplasia degree, and histopathologic diagnosis. Median SUVmax value was found to be significantly higher in high-risk lesions than low-risk lesions. CONCLUSION: The Ki-67 proliferation index is an indicator of SUVmax in colorectal tract. SUVmax values can predict malignancy and prognosis in this region. Colonoscopy and biopsy should always be performed whenever a focal high FDG uptake is determined incidentally in a patient.

Use of FDG PET/CT in Patients with Pancoast Tumors: Does It Add Any Contribution to Patient Management?

PURPOSE: To evaluate any potential value of 2-deoxy-2-[18F] fluoro-D-glucose with positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (FDG PET/CT) in staging of patients with Pancoast tumors and to investigate the relationship between volume-based quantitative PET parameters and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed data of the 47 patients with Pancoast tumors who underwent initial staging by conventional imaging methods and FDG PET/CT. FDG-PET images were visually and quantitatively evaluated, and metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis, and maximum standardized uptake values of primary tumors were calculated. The correlations between quantitative PET parameters and tumor stages, as well as overall survival, were analyzed. RESULTS: By detecting unknown distant metastasis, PET/CT upstaged 21% of patients. The sensitivity and specificity for detection of lymphatic involvement were 100% and 83.75%, respectively. Having surgery (p = 0.01) and being at an early stage (p = 0.004) were the most predictive factors for overall survival. Although there was no significant correlation between quantitative PET parameters and overall survival, MTV was the most powerful discriminator for operability and preoperative staging (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: FDG-PET imaging was found to be a valuable method for an accurate staging in the management of patients with Pancoast tumor. Having surgery and being at an early stage at presentation were found to be significant predictors for survival. Quantitative metabolic parameters may contribute to clarification of operable patient subgroups having an early disease stage with low MTV.