F-18 FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE PET IN-VIVO EVALUATION OF PANCREATIC GLUCOSE-METABOLISM FOR DETECTION OF PANCREATIC-CANCER

PURPOSE: To evaluate positron emission tomography (PET) with fluorine- 18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) for detection of pancreatic cancer compared with computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US). MATE RIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with suspected pancreatic cancer und erwent static PET after intravenous injection of 150-300 MBq FDG. Foca l FDG accumulation was regarded as a sign of malignancy and was quanti tated by calculating differential uptake ratios (DURs) and tumor-liver ratios (TLRs). RESULTS: Malignancy was histologically proved in 27 pa tients. PET helped correctly classify 25 of 27 malignant conditions an d 11 of 13 benign disorders. DUR and TLR were statistically significan tly higher in malignant compared with benign disease (P < .01). False- negative findings were obtained in patients with insulin-dependent dia betes. False-positive findings were noted in a patient with retroperit oneal fibrosis and in one with pancreas divisum with chronic pancreati tis. PET was superior to CT and US in detection of lymph node metastas es (13 of 17 vs three of 17 or one of 15, respectively. CONCLUSION: FD G PET has the potential to improve the detection of lymphadenopathy an d the differential diagnosis of pancreatic masses.