Comparison of the application of (18)F-FDG and (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in neuroendocrine tumors: A retrospective study

The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and (18)F-FDG PET/CT imaging in the diagnosis, staging, and prognosis evaluation of neuroendocrine tumors (NET). A total of 55 patients (43 were initially evaluated, 12 were evaluated after treatment) who underwent fluorine-18 labeled fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) and (68)Ga DOTATE PET/CT examinations were reviewed retrospectively, and the pathological data were collected. In the initial evaluation, 27/43 were pathologically confirmed as NET patients, as detected by gallium-68 labeld 1, 4, 7, 10-tetraazacyclododecane-1, 4, 7, 10-tetraaceticacid-D-Phel-Tyr3-Thr8-OC; among them, 23 were correctly detected by (18)F-FDG. In lesion-based comparison, 119/168 focal lesions were depicted on (18)F-FDG PET/CT and (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT, respectively (P = .0363). Strikingly, gallium-68 labeld 1, 4, 7, 10-tetraazacyclododecane-1, 4, 7, 10-tetraaceticacid-D-Phel-Tyr3-Thr8-OC had higher maximum standard uptake value than (18)F-FDG but was negatively related to the NET grade for the former, while the latter was positively related to the NET. The value of (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in the diagnosis and staging of NET is higher than that of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in NETs, while the value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT cannot be ignored in the NET. The combined application of the 2 tracers has major clinical significance in the management of patients with NET.