ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) (18F-FDG-PET/CT) in the follow-up of adult patients with soft tissue sarcomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 37 consecutive patients with known soft tissue sarcoma with 18F-FDG-PET/CT examination for suspected recurrence of disease. They were 21 men and 16 women with a mean age of 49.6±10.6 (SD) years (range, 34-75years). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of 18F-FDG-PET/CT examination were calculated on a per patient basis. RESULTS: 18F-FDG-PET/CT showed an overall diagnostic accuracy of 91.8%, sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 100%. The positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100 and 70%, respectively. The 18F-FDG-PET/CT interpretations were correct in 34/37 patients (91.8%). Incorrect interpretations occurred in three patients (8.1%). Reasons for false negative findings were low 18F-FDG uptake of local recurrence in one patient and low 18F-FDG uptake of subcentimetric inguinal lymph node metastases. CONCLUSION: 18F-FDG-PET/CT has a high diagnostic value in the follow-up of patients with soft tissue sarcoma.
