Detection of Early Recurrence with 18F-FDG PET in Patients with Cervical Cancer

evaluate retrospectively early recurrence in patients with cervi-cal cancer. Methods: From September 1997 to March 2000, 249 patients with no evidence of cervical cancer after treatment were investigated with 18F-FDG PET. 18F-FDG PET scanning, beginning 50 min after injection of 370–555 MBq 18F-FDG, was performed. 18F-FDG uptake other than physiologic uptake was evaluated with the standardized uptake value and was analyzed by 2 observers who were unaware of CT or MRI data. CT or MRI and needle biopsies were performed to evaluate the positive lesions on 18F-FDG PET, and all patients were monitored closely for 6 mo for recurrence. Results: Of the 249 patients, 80 pa-tients (32.1%) showed positive lesions with 18F-FDG PET, and 28 patients (11.2%) were clinically or histologically confirmed as having recurrences. Eighty-two percent of recurrence was de-tected within 6–18 mo after diagnosis, and 89 % of recurrenc