abstract: Prospective Study of 2-[18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in the Assessment of Regional Nodal Spread of Disease in Patients With Breast Cancer: An Ontario Clinical Oncology Group Study

Prospective Study of 2-[18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in the Assessment of Regional Nodal Spread of Disease in Patients With Breast Cancer: An Ontario Clinical Oncology Group Study

 Purpose 2-[¹⁸F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is potentially useful in assessing lymph nodes and detecting distant metastases in women with primary breast cancer.


Conclusion
FDG-PET is not sufficiently sensitive to detect positive axillary lymph nodes, nor is it sufficiently specific to appropriately identify distant metastases. However, the very high positive predictive value (96%) suggests that PET when positive is indicative of disease in axillary nodes, which may influence surgical care.