Original article Accuracy of 18 F-FDG PET/CT for lymph node staging in non-small-cell lung cancers

Results Histopathologic examination confirmed metastasis in 57 out of the 208 excised lymph nodes; 23 of the 57 nodes were mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of PET/CT in the preoperative diagnosis of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in NSCLC patients were 65%, 96.8%, 92%, 78.5% and 90%, respectively. Conclusions PET/CT scan showed good accuracy in the preoperative diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar lymph node metastasis in the patients with NSCLC. We recommend that PET/CT scanning be used as a first-line evaluation tool for tumor diagnosis, therapy evaluation and follow-up. Chin Med J 2009;122(15):1749-1754 ccurately staging lung cancer is crucial since treatment options and prognosis differ significantly by stage. Lymph-node staging (N-staging) is a challenge while adopting the tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) preoperative clinical staging. 1,2 Positron emission