[111In-pentetreotide in the study of tumors expressing somatostatin receptors]

The usefulness of 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy in the diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumors was evaluated.

39 patients with clinical or biochemical suspicion of neuroendocrine tumors were studied. 29 patients underwent surgery and diagnosis was confirmed by anatomopathology findings (7 mixed tumors, 6 carcinoids, 3 insulinomas, 3 pheocromocytomas, 2 glucagonomas, 2 medullary thyroid carcinomas, 1 gastrinoma and 5 metastatic lesions). In 10 patients who did not undergo surgery, the diagnostic criteria were based on a 6 month follow-up. 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy and computed tomography (CT) were performed in all of the patients.

The scintigraphy correctly detected 58% of the primary tumors while the CT was positive in only 45% of the cases. Both techniques detected metastasis in 5 patients.

111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy is a useful technique to diagnose those tumors that have somatostatin receptors. In our series, the sensitivity of this method was higher than the CT.