Aim The aim of this study is to investigate the possibilities of non-invasive diagnostic imaging methods, positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and CT, in clinical N staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Retrospective clinical study included 50 patients with diagnosed NSCLC who have undergone PET/CT for the purpose of disease staging. The International association for the study of lung cancer (IASLC) nodal mapping system was used for analysis of nodal disease. Data regarding CT N-staging and PET/CT Nstaging were recorded. Two methods were compared using χ2 test and Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Results Statistical analysis showed that although there were some differences in determining the N stage between CT and PET/CT, these methods were in significant correlation. CT and PET/CT findings established the same N stage in 74% of the patients. In five patients based on PET/CT findings the staging was changed from operable to inoperable, while in four patients staging was changed from inoperable to operable. Conclusion PET/CT and CT are noninvasive methods that can be reliably used for N staging of NSCLC.
Dwamena B, Sonnad S, Angobaldo J, Wahl R. Metastases from non-small cell lung cancer: mediastinal staging in the 1990s -meta-analytic comparison of PET and CT. Radiology. 1999;530–6.
2.
Schreyögg J, Weller J, Stargardt T, Herrmann K, Bluemel C, Dechow T, et al. Cost-effectivness of hybrid PET/CT for staging of non-small cell lung cancer. J Nucl Med. 2010;1668–75.
3.
García De Castro A, Domínguez J, Bolton R, Pérez C, Martínez B, García-Esquinas M, et al. PET-CT in presurgical lymph node staging in non-small cell lung cancer: the importance of false-negative and false-positive findings. Radiologia. 2017;147–58.
4.
Verschakelen J, Wever D, Bogaert W, J. Role of computed tomography in lung cancer staging. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2004;248–55.
5.
Moon Y, Lee K, Kim K, Park J. Clinicopathologic correlates of postoperative N1 or N2 nodal upstaging in non-small cell lung cancer. J Thorac Dis. 2016;79–85.
6.
Asamura H, Chansky K, Crowley J, Goldstraw P, Rusch V, Vansteenkiste J, et al. International association for the study of lung cancer staging and prognostic factors committee, advisory board members and participating institutions. The International association for the study of lung cancer lung cancer staging project: proposals for the revision of the N descriptors in the forthcoming 8th edition of the TNM classification for lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol. 2015;1675–84.
7.
Vaz A, Fernandes G, Moura S, Bastos C, Queiroga P, Hespanhol H, et al. Integrated PET/CT in non-small cell lung cancer staging -clinical and pathological agreement. Rev Port Pneumol. 2012;109–14.
8.
Mattes M, Foster W, Moshchinsky A, Ahsanuddin A, Zhang S, Shi Z, et al. A predictive model for lymph node involvement with malignancy on PET/CT in non-small cell lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol. 2015;1207–12.
9.
Ikezoe J, Kadowaki K, Morimoto S, Takashima S, Kozuka T, Nakahara K. Mediastinal lymph node metastases from non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma: reevaluation with CT. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1990;340–4.
10.
Molina J, Yang P, Cassivi S, Schild S, Adjei A. Non-small cell lung cancer: epidemiology, risk factors, treatment, and survivorship. Mayo Clin Proc. 2008;584–94.
11.
Beigelman-Aubry C, Dunet V, Brun A. CT imaging in pre-therapeutic assessment of lung cancer. Diagn Interv Imaging. 2016;973–89.
12.
Gao S, Kim A, Puchalski J, Bramley K, Detterbeck F, Boffa D, et al. Indications for invasive mediastinal staging in patients with early non-small cell lung cancer staged with PET-CT. Lung Cancer. 2017;36–41.
13.
Purandare N, Rangarajan V. Imaging of lung cancer: implications on staging and management. Indian J Radiol Imaging. 2015;109–20.
14.
Chao F, Zhang H. PET/CT in the staging of the nonsmall-cell lung cancer. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2012;783739.
15.
Goldstraw P, Crowley J, Chansky K, Giroux D, Groome P, Rami-Porta R, et al. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer International Staging Committee, Participating Institutions. The IASLC Lung Cancer Staging Project: proposals for the revision of the TNM stage groupings in the forthcoming (seventh) edition of the TNM Classification of malignant tumours. J Thorac Oncol. 2007;706–14.
16.
Kung B, Yong T, Tong C. The pearl of FDG PET/CT in preoperative assessment of patients with potentially operable non-small cell lung cancer and its clinical impact. World J Nucl Med. 2017;21–5.
17.
Detterbeck F, Boffa D, Kim A, Tanoue L. The Eighth Edition Lung Cancer Stage Classification. Chest. 2017;193–203.
18.
Janssen-Heijnen M, Coebergh J. Trends in incidence and prognosis of the histological subtypes of lung cancer in North America, Australia. New Zealand and Europe. Lung Cancer. 2001;123–37.
The statements, opinions and data contained in the journal are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s). We stay neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.