ONCOmmunity

Efficacy of PET-CT in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Recurrence After Esophageal Cancer Surgery.

By: Michihiro Kudou, Atsushi Shiozaki, Hitoshi Fujiwara, Hirotaka Konishi, Tomohiro Arita, Toshiyuki Kosuga, Ryo Morimura, Yasutoshi Murayama, Shuhei Komatsu, Yoshiaki Kuriu, Hisashi Ikoma, Masayoshi Nakanishi, Daisuke Ichikawa, Kazuma Okamoto, Eigo Otsuji

Division of Digestive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
2016-9-1; doi:

Abstract

Aim The present study aimed to retrospectively investigate the utility of positron-emission tomography with 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-D-glucose integrated with computed tomography (PET-CT) in regular follow-ups after esophageal cancer surgery.

Patients

Clinical outcomes were retrospectively analyzed for 61 patients who were diagnosed with postoperative recurrence using PET-CT.

Results

A univariate analysis revealed that single recurrence, a low cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA) value, chemoradiotherapy against recurrence, and recurrence over 6 months after surgery were significant prognostic factors. A low CYFRA level and single recurrence tended to be good prognostic factors in the multivariate analysis. The prognosis of cases with single recurrent tumor of size less than 10 mm was significantly better than those with tumors of 10 mm or more. PET-CT revealed small recurrent tumors, and contributed to the early detection of recurrence outside the body trunk.

Conclusion

PET-CT contributes to the detection of single small recurrent tumors and those outside the body trunk. This follow-up method using PET-CT should be considered for patients after esophageal cancer surgery.