Comparison of MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT in the Liver Metastases of Gastrointestinal and Pancreaticobiliary Tumors

OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection of liver metastases originating from the gastrointestinal system (GIS) and the pancreaticobiliary (PB) system. METHODS: This retrospective study included 42 patients with primary GIS (stomach or colorectal) or PB system malignancies that metastasized to the liver, histopathologically confirmed diagnoses, and MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT images. The MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT images were analyzed. Student’s t-test was used to compare the two modalities in terms of determining the number of metastases, and Cohen’s kappa test was conducted to determine the agreement between the modalities. RESULTS: Twenty-eight (66.7%) of the patients included in this study were male, and the mean age was 60.67±9.4 years. Colon (n=25; 59.5%) and pancreatic (n=7; 16.6%) adenocarcinomas were the most common primary tumors that had metastasized to the liver. MRI detected more metastases in 12 (28.5%) patients, less in seven (16.6%), and an equal number of metastases in 23 (54.7%). No statistically significant difference was observed between the number of metastases detected by MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT (7.55±7.96 and 6.36±7.28, respectively; p=0.11). There was a moderate agreement between the two modalities (kappa value=0.423). Most of the metastases detected on MRI but not seen on 18F-FDG PET/CT (n=10, 23.8%) were lesions smaller than 10 mm. For the eight (19%) patients with lymph node metastases, the number of metastatic lymph nodes detected by MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT was similar (12 and 14, respectively, p>0.05). CONCLUSION: MRI can detect small lesions at an early stage, and 18F-FDG PET/CT shows the metabolic activity of lesions; therefore, the combined use of the two modalities can potentially offer a beneficial outcome for patients.