Impact of 18F-FDG PET on Managing Patients with Colorectal Cancer: The Referring Physician’s Perspective

Whole-body PET imaging with 18F-FDG has been used success-fully to stage colorectal cancer. However, the impact of FDG PET on patient management from the referring physician’s point of view has not been determined. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to referring physicians to determine whether and how PET altered the management of colorectal cancer patients. Management changes, when present, were classified as inter-modality (e.g., medical to surgical, surgical to radiation, medical to no treatment) or intramodality (e.g., altered medical, surgical, or radiotherapy approach). Results: Of 60 responses from re-ferring physicians, changes in clinical stage were reported for 25 patients (42%). Among these, the disease was upstaged in 20 patients (80%) and downstaged in 5 patients (20%). The PET findings contributed to intermodality management changes in 22 of the 60 patients (37%), intramodality changes in 11 patient