[Role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the staging of non small cell lung Cancer [NSCLC] : Lebanese experience regarding 72 cases]

Staging of non-small cell lung cancer [NSCLC] plays a key role in the therapeutic choice and directly affects the prognosis. The role of PET/CT [positron emission tomography] using 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose [FDG] for the staging of NSCLC was studied in the Lebanese population. We compared the results of PET/CT with those of the conventional CT scan in T and N staging for 72 patients; we correlated PET/CT outcome with tumor grade and deter- mined the impact of the difference between staging NSCLC using PET/CT and CT on the therapeutic options. A positive correlation between the results of PET/CT and CT scan was found in 85% of cases. PET/CT has correctly classified pleural effusion as benign in three cases and as malignant in one case and increased the N stage by one point in three cases compared to injected CT scan. PET/CT improves the accuracy of staging of NSCLC allowing a good delineation of the primary tumor, a better evaluation of locoregional lymph node involvement and metastases and identification of the nature of pleural effusion