(18)F-FDG PET/computed tomography scan in patients with suspicion of recurrent neuroendocrine carcinoma of the cervix

The aim of this study was to investigate the value of [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) PET/computed tomography (CT) to detect recurrent cervical neuroendocrine carcinoma and its subsequent impact on patient management. METHODS: A total of 25 patients who had undergone 30 (18)F-FDG PET/CT studies for suspected recurrent cervical neuroendocrine carcinoma (18 small cells, 2 large cells, 1 atypical carcinoid, and 4 unclassified) were retrospectively analyzed. The findings of the PET/CT images were compared with the histopathologic results in 8 scans and with clinical follow-up in 22 scans. RESULTS: Of the 30 PET/CT studies, 63.3% (19/30) were positive for recurrence while 36.7% (11/30) were negative. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for detecting recurrent disease of cervical neuroendocrine carcinomas were 90.0, 90.0, 94.7, 81.8, and 90.0%, respectively. Metastasis to distant organs was the most common (89.4%), followed by lymph node recurrence (52.6%). Lungs were the most frequent site of distant metastasis (63.1%). (18)F-FDG PET/CT findings led to the change of the management in 10 out of 25 patients (40%) by introducing the use of previously unplanned therapeutic procedures. CONCLUSIONS: (18)F-FDG PET/CT is an efficient technique for detecting recurrent cervical neuroendocrine carcinoma, and may thus contribute to improving patient management.