Role of FDG PET/CT in the Evaluation of Suspicious Pulmonary Nodules

The prevalence of non-calcified pulmonary nodules in smokers or former smokers is between 23% and 69% based on findings from the Early Lung Cancer Action Project and a lung cancer screening trial conducted at the Mayo Clinic, respectively; however, only 2.7% of these nodules were malignant in the former and only 2.6% of patients in the latter were diagnosed with lung cancer.1,2 In the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), the rate of low-dose CT examinations with a non-calcified nodule measuring at least 4mm (positive screen) was 24.2% yet 96.4% of these nodules were false positives.

Source: Seminars in Roentgenology - June 5, 2017 Category: Radiology Authors: Brett W. Carter, John P. Lichtenberger, Girish Shroff, Mylene T. Truong, Carol C. Wu Tags: Issue 52/3 - July Lung cancer screening Source Type: research