Axillary lymph node metastases: screening with [F-18]2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) PET.

Abstract

Patients with negative PET scans had such a low risk for axillary lymph node metastases that axillary dissection was not warranted. Patients with positive PET scans required dissection to confirm the presence and determine the number of positive lymph nodes. Had this algorithm been used to select patients for dissection, approximately $120,000 in charges ($2,300 per patient) would have been saved and 22 patients would have been spared the morbidity of axillary lymph node dissection. Within this study population, PET scans of the axilla were interpreted with sufficient sensitivity for PET to serve as a cost-effective screening test for axillary lymph node metastases.