Abstract
Background/Aim: Radiological evaluation after stereotactic-body-radiotherapy (SBRT) for non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is often difficult due to lung radiation-induced image modifications on computed tomographic (CT) scan. The aim of this study was to evaluate positron-emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) using fluorodeoxyglucose after SBRT in primary lung cancer. Patients and Methods: Eighteen patients with histologically proven NSCLC were treated with SBRT. All had PET-CT evaluations before treatment, at 2 to 3 months and at 1 year post SBRT during the follow-up. Results: Early PET-CT in 12/18 patients who did not experience local failure did not show any progression. No conclusion could be drawn in four cases because early PET-CT was disturbed by inflammatory reaction. Early PET-CT was not predictive of late outcome for two patients, as it showed a significant response followed by disease progression on late evaluation. Conclusion: Early PET response appears to correlate with local control at 1 year post SBRT.
- Received October 13, 2017.
- Revision received November 10, 2017.
- Accepted November 16, 2017.
- Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved