Metabolic information on staging FDG-PET–CT as a prognostic tool in the evaluation of 97 patients with gastric cancer

Background and objective Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of malignancy-related mortality. Many patients with locally advanced disease succumb despite peri-operative chemotherapy and the survival benefit of chemotherapy for advanced disease is modest, suggesting that current staging is imperfect. The role of fluorine-18-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in the staging of gastric cancer remains to be determined. This study aimed to determine, and compare with computerized tomography (CT), the association between FDG-PET uptake in the primary tumour and regional lymph nodes, and overall survival in patients with all stage gastric cancer.