Utility of Whole Body 18F-FDG PET/CT in Comparison to Pelvic MRI in Evaluation of Local Staging of Early-Stage Carcinoma Cervix

Objective: This prospective comparative study aimed to investigate the applied value of whole body 2-deoxy-2[fluorine-18]fluoro- D-glucose positron emission tomography integrated with computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) in comparison to pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in early cervical cancer patients. Material and methods: A prospective study was performed on 47 clinically early-stage cervical cancer patients evaluated with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and MRI before surgery. The final postoperative histopathology report served as the reference standard. Both PET/CT and MRI images were analyzed and correlated with histopathologic findings concerning parametrial and lymph node involvement. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value (NPV) of PET/CT were 33.3%, 81.8%, and 94.7%, respectively, for parametrium assessment. And the corresponding values of pelvic MRI were 33.3%, 63.6%, and 93.3%, respectively (PET/CT versus MRI, p > 0.05). The positive predictive value (PPV) of PET/CT (11.1%) was higher than MRI (5.9%) for parametrial assessment (p < 0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of PET/CT were 75%, 83.7%, 30%, and 97.3%, respectively, for lymph node assessment. And the corresponding values of MRI were 75%, 81.3%, 27.3%, and 97.2%, respectively (PET/CT versus MRI, p > 0.05). There was no significant difference between MRI and PET/CT concerning stage migration (p = 0.4276). Conclusion: The PET/CT had no additional utility (compared to MRI) in the evaluation of local staging of clinically early cervical carcinoma patients.