Role of PET/CT in post therapeutic assessment of bronchogenic carcinoma

Abstract

ung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths for both males and females across the developed world. Despite great efforts to treat this cancer, the overall 5-year survival for all stages is low (15%), as most patients present at an advanced stage when curative treatment is no longer an option. Although the majority of patients present at an advanced stage, those with early-stage lung cancer can be treated with a potentially curative intent. Thus, the early diagnosis as well as appropriate radiological staging cannot be overemphasized. Before the emergence of FDG-PET/CT, radiological assessment, staging and follow up of lung cancer was mainly based on CT examination as well as bone scan. After development of PET and PET/CT machines, this modality rapidly proved its efficiency and is now recommended by the NCCN guidelines. The added value of PET/CT exam in initial staging in T-stage assessment was accurately identifying the true size of primary mass when it is surrounded by collapsed lobe or distal consolidation. Our study was done on 20 patients and intended to evaluate the added value of PET/CT in bronchogenic carcinoma patients in follow up after therapy. We used