Bronchogenic carcinoma: the added value of FDG PET/CT advanced volumetric and metabolic parameters in initial evaluation and their impact on prognosis and clinical outcome

Abstract

Abstract Background Bronchogenic carcinoma is considered to be one of the most common causes of cancer-related mortalities. It is divided into two main subtypes; small cell and non-small cell carcinoma. CT is considered the most commonly used radiological modality for early detection and staging. PET/CT can efficiently give both structural and functional information about the tumoral mass and malignant activity overall the body and hence can accurately assess the tumor staging and tumor response to therapy. Our study aim was to evaluate the different 18F-FDG PET/CT advanced volumetric and metabolic parameters in initial staging of bronchogenic carcinoma and their capability to predict the impact on prognostic pathway and hence the clinical outcomes. Results Forty patients with pathologically proven bronchogenic carcinoma were included in this study, and all of them did PET/CT in which different volumetric and metabolic parameters were measured and showed significant differences in different tumor grades. Conclusion PET/CT can give both structural and functional data about the tumor mass adding to its proper assessment of the initial evaluation and predicting its prognostic pathway.