Comparison of (18)FDG PET/PET-CT and bone scintigraphy for detecting bone metastases in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: We performed a meta-analysis to compare the diagnostic efficacy of (18)FDG PET/PET-CT and bone scintigraphy (BS) for diagnosing bone metastatic cancers in nasopharyngeal cancer patients. RESULTS: 6 studies (1238 patients) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The pooled sensitivities for (18)FDG PET/PET-CT and BS were 0.81 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.70 to 0.98) and 0.39 (95% CI = 0.26 to 0.54), specificities were 0.99 (95% CI = 0.98 to 0.99) and 0.98 (95% CI = 0.96 to 0.99), and the areas under curve were 0.98 (95% CI = 0.97 to 0.99) and 0.84 (95% CI = 0.81 to 0.87). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Several databases were searched for all available articles. We calculated the sensitivities, specificities, diagnostic odds ratios, likelihood ratios, and area under summary receiver operating characteristic curves for (18)FDG PET/PET-CT and BS, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: (18)FDG PET/PET-CT is superior to BS for diagnosing bone metastases in nasopharyngeal cancer patients.(18)FDG PET/PET-CT may enhance the diagnosis of bone metastases and provide more accurate information for the optimal management of nasopharyngeal cancer.