Detection of Sentinel Lymph Node in Endometrial Cancer Using ^99m Tc-Nanocolloid SPECT/CT: A Retrospective Cohort...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Surgical Pathology

Background:

• Sentinel lymph node mapping (SLNM) is crucial for staging early endometrial cancer.
• ^99m Tc-nanocolloid SPECT/CT offers a minimally invasive approach to identify lymphatic metastasis.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate the detection rate of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) using SPECT/CT.
• Compare SPECT/CT findings with intraoperative gamma probe and histopathology.
• Assess the correlation between tumor characteristics and SLN detection.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study of 26 early-stage endometrial cancer patients.
• ^99m Tc-nanocolloid injection followed by SPECT/CT imaging.
• Intraoperative gamma probe evaluation and histopathological analysis for metastasis confirmation.

Main Results:

• SPECT/CT detected SLNs in 76.9% of patients, with 100% concordance with gamma probe findings.
• Tumor size significantly correlated with SLN detection (p < 0.001).
• No correlation found between SPECT/CT counts and histopathological metastasis (p=0.156).

Conclusions:

• ^99m Tc-nanocolloid SPECT/CT is effective for SLNM in early endometrial cancer, showing high detection rates.
• SPECT/CT enhances surgical planning due to superior anatomical accuracy.
• Tumor size is a significant factor in SLN detection, but SPECT/CT counts do not predict metastasis.