Determinants of Diagnostic Performance Of [F-18]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography for Axillary Staging in Breast Cancer

Abstract

The sensitivity of FDG PET to detect occult axillary metastases in operable breast cancer was low, and it was a function of axillary tumor load and FDG avidity of the primary tumor. Even though the clinical relevance of occult disease detected by SNB needs to be confirmed, it is suggested that FDG PET in these patients should be focused on exploiting its nearly perfect specificity and the potential prognostic relevance of variable FDG uptake.