FDG-PET is effective in the detection of granulocytic sarcoma in patients with myeloid malignancy

Granulocytic sarcomas (GSs) are extramedullary tumors that consist of myeloid cells in patients with myeloid malignancies. The role for (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) to detect GSs has been unclear. We retrospectively evaluated seven patients with pathologically proven GSs. Compared with other diagnostic tools, FDG-PET was more effective or at least equivalent in the detection of GSs in six patients, but was less effective in one patient. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) for the lesions widely varied from 2.6 to 9.7. When our findings and previous reports taken together, FDG-PET is an effective tool to search for GSs, however, other diagnostic tools including computed tomography (CT) are still necessary to detect morphological abnormalities.