[Evaluation of primary lung cancer and mediastinal lymph node metastasis using 99mTc-MIBI: comparison with 201T1 and...

We compared the detectability of 99mTc-MIBI and 201T1-chloride for primary lung cancer and mediastinal lymph node metastasis. We also analyzed the relationship between 99mTc-MIBI uptake and effectiveness of chemotherapy in patients with small cell lung cancer. The subjects were fourty-six primary lesions and 8 mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes confirmed by operation, and dual-isotope SPECT technique was performed at both 20 min and 180 min after tracer injection. A tumor to normal lung ratio on both early (ER) and delayed image (DR) and retention index (RI) were calculated. The positive rates of 99mTc-MIBI (early; 82.6%, delayed; 54.3%) were comparable to 201T1 in most primary tumor (87.0% and 84.8%). Whereas tumor smaller than 3 cm diameter was poorly visualized on both 99mTc-MIBI (25% and 0%) and 201T1 (37.5% and 37.5%). Detectabilities of metastatic mediastinal lymph nodes of 99mTc-MIBI (62.5% and 25.0%) was comparable to those of 201T1 (62.5% and 50.0%). Regarding effectiveness of chemotherapy, NC group showed lower uptake of 99mTc-MIBI and significant lower value of RI compared to PR group. We concluded that early image of 99mTc-MIBI SPECT can be helpful in detecting primary lung cancer and metastatic mediastinal lymph node. Additionary, it might be useful for predicting the effects of chemotherapy in small cell lung cancer.