Evaluation of Preoperative Chemotherapy Using PET with Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose in Breast Cancer

We retrospectively investigated the value of PET with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) for preoperative chemotherapy response in patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Methods: FDG-PET studies were performed on 16 consecutive patients. All patients had PET studies before chemotherapy, 13 patients between the end of the first cycle and at the midpoint of chemotherapy, and 14 patients before surgery. Visual diagnoses and the standardized uptake values (SUV) of PET scans were compared with pathology findings at surgery and with the results of mammography, ultrasonography (US) or both, which were performed before chemotherapy andbefore local surgery for residual disease. Each patient's clinical course was monitored for up to 3 yr. Results: Sensitivity for detection of pathologically proven primary lesions was 100%, 62.5 % and 87.5 % with FDG-PET, mammography and US, respec tively; and sensitivity for detection of initial nodal involvement was 77%, 70 % and 87.5%, respectively. Sensitivity for detection o