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Role of 68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT in the diagnosis and staging of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours

  • Nuclear Medicine
  • Published:
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Abstract

Objective

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the role of 68Ga-DOTA(0)-Phe(1)-Tyr(3)-octreotide (68Ga-DOTATOC) positron emission tomography computed tomography (PET-CT) for detection and staging of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).

Methods

Twenty patients with clinically suspected and/or histopathologically proven pancreatic NET underwent 68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT imaging for staging and /or localisation of primary lesion. They also underwent contrast enhanced CT (CECT) and 8 patients underwent 18F-FDG PET-CT. SUVmax of primary and metastatic lesions were measured. Results were verified with histopathology for primary tumour and with clinical follow up/MRI and /or biopsy for metastatic disease. Results of 68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT were compared to CECT and 18F-FDG PET-CT.

Results

68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT correctly localised primary in all 20, CECT in 15 and 18F-FDG PET-CT in 2 patients. 68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT demonstrated metastases in 13 patients, CECT in 7 and 18F-FDG PET-CT in 2. 68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT emerged as the best investigation with 100% sensitivity and PPV for detecting primary tumour and metastatic disease. The detection rate of CECT was lower than 68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT, both for primary tumour (20vs.15) or metastatic disease (13vs.7). 18F-FDG PET-CT performed poorly for primary and metastasis.

Conclusion

Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT is a very useful imaging investigation for diagnosing and staging pancreatic NET.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, E-81, Ansari Nagar (east), AIIMS Campus, New Delhi, 110029, India

    Rakesh Kumar, Punit Sharma, Sellam Karunanithi, Niraj Naswa, Sneh Lata & Arun Malhotra

  2. Department of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Pramod Garg

  3. Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Raju Sharma & Sanjay Thulkar

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  1. Rakesh Kumar
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Correspondence to Rakesh Kumar.

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Kumar, R., Sharma, P., Garg, P. et al. Role of 68Ga-DOTATOC PET-CT in the diagnosis and staging of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours. Eur Radiol 21, 2408–2416 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-011-2199-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-011-2199-y

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