The Role of PET-CT in Staging and Restaging of Breast Cancer

Abstract Background In the oncology field, 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) has proven to be an effective technique for evaluating different cancers, and breast cancer (BC) in particular. Objective To demonstrate the18F-FDG PET/CT role in the staging of BC patients at initial diagnosis and restaging of BC patients in cases of recurrent disease. Patients and Methods A prospectively designed study, in which 50 female patients were referred with histopathologically proven new BC and other 50 females with recurrent BC. Results Concerning initial staging, compared to other modalities, PET-CT scans upstaged 42% of BC patients. PET/CT upstaged 3 patients from stage IIA to stages IIIB, and VI, 3 patients from stage IIB to stage IV, 3 patients from stage IIIA to stages IIIC and IV, 5 patients from stage IIIB to stages IIIC and IV, and finally 6 patients from stage IIIC to stage IV. The detections of recurrence via PET- CT scans versus other imaging modalities/serum tumor markers or clinical assessment were changed in 35 cases. 18F-FDG-PET/CT showed added deposits in 10 patients with local recurrence, 13 patients with distant recurrence, 5 patients with raised tumor markers without detected local or distant lesions, and finally, 7 patients with recurrence diagnosed with clinical assessment. Conclusion Our data indicated the efficacy of 18F-FDG-PET/CT in the initial diagnosis of BC patients starting from early stages (> IIA). Additionally, 18FDG-PET/CT is a very useful imaging tool for restaging locoregional and distant recurrences in BC patients.