Rationale
The development of consensus guidelines for interpretation of Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is needed to provide more consistent reports in ...clinical practice. The standardization of PSMA-PET interpretation may also contribute to increasing the data reproducibility within clinical trials. Finally, guidelines in PSMA-PET interpretation are needed to communicate the exact location of findings to referring physicians, to support clinician therapeutic management decisions.
Methods
A panel of worldwide experts in PSMA-PET was established. Panelists were selected based on their expertise and publication record in the diagnosis or treatment of PCa, in their involvement in clinical guidelines and according to their expertise in the clinical application of radiolabeled PSMA inhibitors. Panelists were actively involved in all stages of a modified, nonanonymous, Delphi consensus process.
Results
According to the findings obtained by modified Delphi consensus process, panelist recommendations were implemented in a structured report for PSMA-PET.
Conclusions
The E-PSMA standardized reporting guidelines, a document supported by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), provide consensus statements among a panel of experts in PSMA-PET imaging, to develop a structured report for PSMA-PET in prostate cancer and to harmonize diagnostic interpretation criteria.
Hematologic malignancies represent a vast group of hematopoietic and lymphoid cancers that typically involve the blood, the bone marrow, and the lymphatic organs. Due to extensive research and well ...defined and standardized response criteria, the role of 18FFDG-PET/CT is well defined in these malignancies. Never the less, the reliability of visual and quantitative interpretation of PET/CT may be impaired by several factors including inconsistent scanning protocols and image reconstruction methods. Furthermore, the uptake of 18FFDG not only reflects tissue glucose consumption by malignant lesions, but also in other situations such as in inflammatory lesions, local and systemic infections, benign tumors, reactive thymic hyperplasia, histiocytic infiltration, among others; or following granulocyte colony stimulating factors therapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or surgical interventions, all of which are a potential source of false-positive or negative interpretations. Therefore it is of paramount importance for the Nuclear Medicine Physician to be familiar with, not only the normal distribution of 18FFDG in the body, but also with the most frequent findings that may hamper a correct interpretation of the scan, which could ultimately alter the patients management.
In this review, we describe these myriad of situations so the interpreting physician can be familiar with them, providing tools for their correct identification and interpretation when possible.
Imaging is essential in detecting lymph node metastases for radiotherapy treatment planning in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). There are not many data on the performance of 18FFDG-PET(CT) in ...showing lymph node metastases in LACC.
We pooled sensitivity and specificity of 18FFDG-PET(CT) for detecting pelvic and/or para-aortic lymph node metastases in patients with LACC. Also, the positive and negative posttest probabilities at high and low levels of prevalence were determined.
MEDLINE and EMBASE searches were performed and quality characteristics assessed. Logit-sensitivity and logit-specificity estimates with corresponding standard errors were calculated. Summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by anti-logit transformation. Positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) were calculated from the mean logit-sensitivity and mean logit-specificity and the corresponding standard errors. The posttest probabilities were determined by Bayesian approach.
Twelve studies were included with a total of 778 patients aged 10–85 years.
For pelvic nodes, summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity, LR+ and LR- were: 0.88 (95%CI: 0.40–0.99), 0.93 (95%CI: 0.85–0.97), 11.90 (95%CI: 5.32–26.62) and 0.13 (95%CI: 0.01–1.08). At the lowest prevalence of 0.15 the positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were 0.68 and 0.98, at the highest prevalence of 0.65, 0.96 and 0.81.
For the para-aortic nodes, the summary estimates of sensitivity, specificity LR+ and LR- were: 0.40 (95%CI: 0.18–0.66), 0.93 (95%CI: 0.91–0.95), 6.08 (95%CI: 2.90–12.78) and 0.64 (95%CI: 0.42–0.99), respectively. At the lowest prevalence of 0.17 the PPV and NPV were 0.55 and 0.88, at the highest prevalence of 0.50, 0.86 and 0.61.
The PPV and NPV of 18FFDG-PET(CT) showing lymph node metastases in patients with LACC improves with higher prevalence. Prevalence and predictive values should be taken into account when determining therapeutic strategies based on 18FFDG-PET(CT).
•Prevalence of a tumor positive node is 0.15–0.65 for pelvic and 0.15–0.70 for para-aortic nodes in 778 LACC patients.•Pelvic nodes: PPV and NPV for the lowest prevalence were 0.68 and 0.98 and for the highest prevalence 0.96 and 0.81.•Para-aortic nodes: PPV and NPV for the lowest prevalence were 0.55 and 0.88 and for the highest prevalence 0.86 and 0.61.•Prevalence and predictive values need to be considered when determining therapeutic strategies based on 18FFDG-PET(CT).
2-deoxy-2-18Ffluoro-D-glucose 18FFDG-PET/CT represents the metabolic imaging of choice in various cancer types. Used either at diagnosis or during treatment response assessment, the modality allows ...for a more accurate definition of tumor extent compared to morphological imaging and is able to predict the therapeutic benefit earlier in time. Due to the aspecific uptake property of 18FFDG there is an overlap of its distribution in normal and pathological conditions, which can make the interpretation of the imaging challenging. Lung and pleural neoplasia are no exception to this, thus acknowledging of possible pitfalls and artifacts are mandatory for image interpretation. While most pitfalls and artifacts are common for all indications with metabolic imaging with 18FFDG-PET/CT, there are specific variants and pitfalls in lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma. The aim of the present article is to shed light on the most frequent and relevant variants and pitfalls in 18FFDG-PET/CT imaging in lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Background
Lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). No imaging method can successfully detect all (micro)metastases. This may result in ...(lymph node) recurrence after chemoradiation. We hypothesized that lymphatic mapping could identify nodes at risk and if radiation treatment volumes are adapted based on the lymphatic map, (micro)metastases not shown on imaging could be treated. We investigated the feasibility of lymphatic mapping to image lymph nodes at risk for (micro)metastases in LACC and assessed the radiotherapy dose on the nodes at risk.
Methods
Patients with LACC were included between July 2020 and July 2022. Inclusion criteria were: ≥ 18 years old, intended curative chemoradiotherapy, investigation under anesthesia. Exclusion criteria were: pregnancy and extreme obesity. All patients underwent abdominal MRI,
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FFDG-PET/CT and lymphatic mapping after administration of 6–8 depots of
99m
TcTc-nanocolloid followed by planar and SPECT/CT images 2–4 and 24 h post-injection.
Results
Seventeen patients participated. In total, 40 nodes at risk were visualized on the lymphatic map in 13/17 patients with a median of two range 0–7, IQR 0.5–3 nodes per patient, with unilateral drainage in 4/13 and bilateral drainage in 9/13 patients. No complications occurred. The lymphatic map showed more nodes compared to suspicious nodes on MRI or
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FFDG-PET/CT in 8/14 patients. Sixteen patients were treated with radiotherapy with 34 visualized nodes on the lymphatic map. Of these nodes, 20/34 (58.8%) received suboptimal radiotherapy: 7/34 nodes did not receive radiotherapy at all, and 13/34 received external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), but no simultaneous integrated boost (SIB).
Conclusion
Lymphatic mapping is feasible in LACC. Almost 60% of nodes at risk received suboptimal treatment during chemoradiation. As treatment failure could be caused by (micro)metastasis in some of these nodes, including nodes at risk in the radiotherapy treatment volume could improve radiotherapy treatment outcome in LACC.
Trail registration
The study was first registered at the International Clinical Trial Registry Platform (ICTRP) under number of NL9323 on 4 March 2021. Considering the source platform was not operational anymore, the study was retrospectively registered again on February 27, 2023 at CilicalTrials.gov under number of NCT05746156.
Correct identification of patients with lymph node metastasis from cervical cancer prior to treatment is of great importance, because it allows more tailored therapy. Patients may be spared ...unnecessary surgery or extended field radiotherapy if the nodal status can be predicted correctly. This review captures the existing knowledge on the identification of lymph node metastases in cervical cancer. The risk of nodal metastases increases per 2009 FIGO stage, with incidences in the pelvic region ranging from 2% (stage IA2) to 14–36% (IB), 38–51% (IIA) and 47% (IIB); and in the para-aortic region ranging from 2 to 5% (stage IB), 10–20% (IIA), 9% (IIB), 13–30% (III) and 50% (IV). In addition, age, tumor size, lymph vascular space invasion, parametrial invasion, depth of stromal invasion, histological type, and histological grade are reported to be independent prognostic factors for the risk of nodal metastases. Furthermore, biomarkers can contribute to predict a patient’s nodal status, of which the squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) is currently the most widely used in squamous cell cervical cancer. Still, pre-treatment lymph node assessment is primarily performed by imaging, of which diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging has the highest sensitivity and 2-deoxy-2-
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Ffluoro-D-glucose positron emission computed tomography the highest specificity. Imaging results can be combined with clinical parameters in nomograms to increase the accuracy of predicting positives nodes. Despite all the progress regarding pre-treatment prediction of lymph node metastases in cervical cancer in recent years, prediction rates are not robust enough to safely abandon surgical staging of the pelvic or para-aortic region yet.
In “Joint EANM/SNMMI/ESTRO Practice Recommendations for the Use of 2-18FFDG-PET/CT External Beam Radiation Treatment Planning in Lung Cancer V1.0” clinical indications for PET-CT in (non-)small cell ...lung cancer are highlighted and selective nodal irradiation is discussed. Additionally, concepts about target definition, target delineation and treatment evaluation are reviewed.
Neuroblastoma is an embryonic tumour of childhood that originates in the neural crest. It is the second most common extracranial malignant solid tumour of childhood.Neuroblastoma cells have the ...unique capacity to accumulate Iodine-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine (¹²³I-MIBG), which can be used for imaging the tumour. Moreover, ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy is not only important for the diagnosis of neuroblastoma, but also for staging and localization of skeletal lesions. If these are present, MIBG follow-up scans are used to assess the patient's response to therapy. However, the sensitivity and specificity of ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy to detect neuroblastoma varies according to the literature.Prognosis, treatment and response to therapy of patients with neuroblastoma are currently based on extension scoring of ¹²³I-MIBG scans. Due to its clinical use and importance, it is necessary to determine the exact diagnostic accuracy of ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy. In case the tumour is not MIBG avid, fluorine-18-fluorodeoxy-glucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is often used and the diagnostic accuracy of this test should also be assessed.
1.1 To determine the diagnostic accuracy of ¹²³I-MIBG (single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), with or without computed tomography (CT)) scintigraphy for detecting a neuroblastoma and its metastases at first diagnosis or at recurrence in children from 0 to 18 years old.1.2 To determine the diagnostic accuracy of negative ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy in combination with (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging for detecting a neuroblastoma and its metastases at first diagnosis or at recurrence in children from 0 to 18 years old, i.e. an add-on test.
2.1 To determine the diagnostic accuracy of (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging for detecting a neuroblastoma and its metastases at first diagnosis or at recurrence in children from 0 to 18 years old.2.2 To compare the diagnostic accuracy of ¹²³I-MIBG (SPECT-CT) and (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging for detecting a neuroblastoma and its metastases at first diagnosis or at recurrence in children from 0 to 18 years old. This was performed within and between included studies. ¹²³I-MIBG (SPECT-CT) scintigraphy was the comparator test in this case.
We searched the databases of MEDLINE/PubMed (1945 to 11 September 2012) and EMBASE/Ovid (1980 to 11 September 2012) for potentially relevant articles. Also we checked the reference lists of relevant articles and review articles, scanned conference proceedings and searched for unpublished studies by contacting researchers involved in this area.
We included studies of a cross-sectional design or cases series of proven neuroblastoma, either retrospective or prospective, if they compared the results of ¹²³I-MIBG (SPECT-CT) scintigraphy or (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging, or both, with the reference standards or with each other. Studies had to be primary diagnostic and report on children aged between 0 to 18 years old with a neuroblastoma of any stage at first diagnosis or at recurrence.
One review author performed the initial screening of identified references. Two review authors independently performed the study selection, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality.We used data from two-by-two tables, describing at least the number of patients with a true positive test and the number of patients with a false negative test, to calculate the sensitivity, and if possible, the specificity for each included study.If possible, we generated forest plots showing estimates of sensitivity and specificity together with 95% confidence intervals.
Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Ten studies reported data on patient level: the scan was positive or negative. One study reported on all single lesions (lesion level). The sensitivity of ¹²³I-MIBG (SPECT-CT) scintigraphy (objective 1.1), determined in 608 of 621 eligible patients included in the 11 studies, varied from 67% to 100%. One study, that reported on a lesion level, provided data to calculate the specificity: 68% in 115 lesions in 22 patients. The sensitivity of ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy for detecting metastases separately from the primary tumour in patients with all neuroblastoma stages ranged from 79% to 100% in three studies and the specificity ranged from 33% to 89% for two of these studies.One study reported on the diagnostic accuracy of (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging (add-on test) in patients with negative ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy (objective 1.2). Two of the 24 eligible patients with proven neuroblastoma had a negative ¹²³I-MIBG scan and a positive (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) scan.The sensitivity of (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging as a single diagnostic test (objective 2.1) and compared to ¹²³I-MIBG (SPECT-CT) (objective 2.2) was only reported in one study. The sensitivity of (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging was 100% versus 92% of ¹²³I-MIBG (SPECT-CT) scintigraphy. We could not calculate the specificity for both modalities.
The reported sensitivities of ¹²³-I MIBG scintigraphy for the detection of neuroblastoma and its metastases ranged from 67 to 100% in patients with histologically proven neuroblastoma.Only one study in this review reported on false positive findings. It is important to keep in mind that false positive findings can occur. For example, physiological uptake should be ruled out, by using SPECT-CT scans, although more research is needed before definitive conclusions can be made.As described both in the literature and in this review, in about 10% of the patients with histologically proven neuroblastoma the tumour does not accumulate ¹²³I-MIBG (false negative results). For these patients, it is advisable to perform an additional test for staging and assess response to therapy. Additional tests might for example be (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT), but to be certain of its clinical value, more evidence is needed.The diagnostic accuracy of (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging in case of a negative ¹²³I-MIBG scintigraphy could not be calculated, because only very limited data were available. Also the detection of the diagnostic accuracy of index test (18)F-FDG-PET(-CT) imaging for detecting a neuroblastoma tumour and its metastases, and to compare this to comparator test ¹²³I-MIBG (SPECT-CT) scintigraphy, could not be calculated because of the limited available data at time of this search.At the start of this project, we did not expect to find only very limited data on specificity. We now consider it would have been more appropriate to use the term "the sensitivity to assess the presence of neuroblastoma" instead of "diagnostic accuracy" for the objectives.
Purpose
2-
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FFDG PET/CT is of utmost importance for radiation treatment (RT) planning and response monitoring in lung cancer patients, in both non-small and small cell lung cancer (NSCLC and SCLC). ...This topic has been addressed in guidelines composed by experts within the field of radiation oncology. However, up to present, there is no procedural guideline on this subject, with involvement of the nuclear medicine societies.
Methods
A literature review was performed, followed by a discussion between a multidisciplinary team of experts in the different fields involved in the RT planning of lung cancer, in order to guide clinical management. The project was led by experts of the two nuclear medicine societies (EANM and SNMMI) and radiation oncology (ESTRO).
Results and conclusion
This guideline results from a joint and dynamic collaboration between the relevant disciplines for this topic. It provides a worldwide, state of the art, and multidisciplinary guide to 2-
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FFDG PET/CT RT planning in NSCLC and SCLC. These practical recommendations describe applicable updates for existing clinical practices, highlight potential flaws, and provide solutions to overcome these as well. Finally, the recent developments considered for future application are also reviewed.
Purpose
The aim of this EANM / SNMMI Practice Guideline with ESTRO endorsement is to provide general information and specific considerations about
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FFDG PET/CT in advanced uterine cervical cancer ...for external beam radiotherapy planning with emphasis on staging and target definition, mostly in FIGO stages IB3-IVA and IVB, treated with curative intention.
Methods
Guidelines from related fields, relevant literature and leading experts have been consulted during the development of this guideline. As this field is rapidly evolving, this guideline cannot be seen as definitive, nor is it a summary of all existing protocols. Local variations should be taken into consideration when applying this guideline.
Conclusion
The background, common clinical indications, qualifications and responsibilities of personnel, procedure / specifications of the examination, documentation / reporting and equipment specifications, quality control and radiation safety in imaging is discussed with an emphasis on the multidisciplinary approach.
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