Recurrent ovarian carcinoma presenting as a solitary sternal metastasis on FDG PET/CT.

We report the positron emission tomography/computed tomography appearance of solitary sternal metastasis from primary ovarian carcinoma in a 65-year-old woman who underwent surgery followed by chemoradiation treatment 3 years earlier. Restaging positron emission tomography/computed tomography study demonstrates an intensely active destructive lesion involving the entire sternum (maximum standard uptake value: 4.7) with a photopenic soft tissue mass component in the center of the sternum protruding anteriorly suggestive of necrosis. This sternal lesion was subsequently biopsied and pathology revealed metastatic disease from the primary ovarian tumor for which the patient had received chemoradiation therapy. Bone involvement in ovarian cancer is relatively rare and even rarer in the sternum.

Is there a common SUV threshold in oncological FDG PET/CT, at least for some common indications? A retrospective study.

PURPOSE: We retrospectively compared the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of FDG PET in four different sites to evaluate whether a common diagnostic SUVmax threshold may exist in these tumor locations. We further postulate that the SUVmax thresholds are higher in thoracic lesions than in extrathoracic lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: N = 143 patients in four subgroups underwent a FDG PET/CT: a) 42 patients for solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) characterization with b) respective mediastinal lymph nodes (LNs), c) 65 patients for LN staging of head and neck cancer, and d) 36 cancer patients diagnosed with adrenal lesions. Receiver operating characteristics of SUVmax values were evaluated. RESULTS: The SUVmax were statistically significantly greater in malignant than in benign lesions. For SPNs and mediastinal LNs, a SUVmax > 3.6 each resulted in a sensitivity of 81% and 87%, and a specificity of 94% and 89%. For cervical LNs and adrenal glands, a SUVmax > 2.2 each showed a sensitivity of 98% and 100%, and a specificity of 83% and 93%. CONCLUSION: A common SUVmax threshold did not exist in the four studied subgroups. The variable FDG uptake in SPNs and mediastinal LNs are associated with the high prevalence of inflammation/infection within the chest. Similar SUVmax thresholds however may exist for extrathoracic regions where the prevalence of inflammation/infection is low.

Thyroid metastasis from primary renal cell cancer on FDG PET/CT.

We report the PET/CT appearance of metastasis from primary renal cancer to the thyroid in a 52-year-old man with a history of right renal cell carcinoma, status postright nephrectomy, recently presented biopsied-proven metastatic lesion in his left thyroid lobe. Restaging PET/CT study demonstrates a 1.4 × 0.9 cm hypodense, moderately active lesion in the left thyroid lobe with a maximum SUV of 2.8. No other abnormal hypermetabolic lesion is seen in the right renal surgical bed or the remaining body. The patient has subsequently treated with Sutent (Sunitinib).

F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and/or computed tomography findings of an unusual breast lymphoma case and concurrent cervical cancer: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Breast lymphoma accounts for less than 1% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and approximately 0.1% of all breast neoplasms. Most breast lymphomas are classified as diffuse large B-cell lymphomas or as mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas. Concurrent cases of breast lymphoma and cervical cancer are extremely rare. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 46-year-old woman of unknown ethnic origin diagnosed with concurrent diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the breast and squamous cell cancer of the cervix that was detected and followed with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography and/or computed tomography (PET/CT). The metastatic pattern of this case of breast lymphoma is similar to that of a typical metastatic breast carcinoma. These findings have never been described in the literature. PET/CT also demonstrated an incidentally intense FDG focus in the uterine cervix ultimately leading to the pathologic diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. An appropriate staging of breast lymphoma and cervical cancer with FDG PET/CT is important because of therapeutic consequence. This case report and review of the literature highlights the role of FDG PET/CT in staging and restaging of both breast lymphoma and cervical cancer. CONCLUSIONS: We report a case of a breast lymphoma with a metastatic pattern similar to that of typical metastatic breast carcinoma. The FDG PET/CT scan also diagnosed a rare case of concurrent breast lymphoma and cervical cancer. This concurrence has not been reported previously in the medical literature.