Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026
Gene Regulation and Targeted Therapy in Gastric Cancer Peritoneal Metastasis: Radiological Findings from Dual Energy CT and PET/CT
Published on: January 22, 2018
Performance of FDG PET/CT in postoperative colorectal cancer patients with a suspected recurrence and a normal CEA
Jai Hyuen Lee1, Seok Gun Park, Keum Nahn Jee
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea. jaihyuenlee@dankook.ac.kr
Purpose:
The performance of 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) has been not established for the evaluation of recurrent colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of FDG PET/CT in postoperative colorectal cancer patients with normal carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels.
Methods:
This retrospective study was conducted on 63 FDG PET/CT cases, involving postoperative colorectal cancer patients suspected of having recurrent or metastatic lesions with normal CEA levels. The diagnostic performance of FDG PET/CT was evaluated based on diverse suspected conditions, using physical examination, a conventional imaging work-up, and endoscopy. Histopathology, a clinical imaging work-up (including an FDG PET/CT examination), and determination of tumor marker levels during the follow-up served as the reference standard.
Results:
The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for FDG PET/CT were 95, 76.6, and 88.8% for a lesion-by-lesion analysis, and 96.3, 86.1, and 90.5% for a case-by-case analysis, respectively. Three false-negative lesions among 107 suspected recurrent findings were identified as compared with nine false-positive lesions. For radiologically suspected recurrent or metastatic conditions, FDG PET/CT diagnostic performance was superior to radiological image modalities, for both lesion-by-lesion and case-by-case analyses. On follow-up of patients with normal CEA levels, but high CA19-9 levels, the use of FDG PET/CT detected true-positive findings in 63.3% of cases.
Conclusion:
FDG PET/CT is a valuable tool to distinguish recurrence or metachronous tumor from postoperative changes or other benign lesions in postoperative colorectal cancer patients with normal CEA levels and radiologically or clinically suspicious lesions.
