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Does positron emission tomography/computed tomography change management in colorectal cancer?
Author(s) -
Falconer Rachel,
Connor Saxon,
Balasingam Adrian,
Eglinton Tim
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
anz journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.426
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 1445-1433
DOI - 10.1111/ans.13798
Subject(s) - medicine , colorectal cancer , positron emission tomography , radiology , carcinoembryonic antigen , cancer , retrospective cohort study , nuclear medicine , lung cancer , pet ct
Background Positron emission tomography/computed tomography ( PET / CT ) is used pre‐operatively in patients with metastatic or recurrent colorectal cancer to identify those who have potentially curative disease. However, a recent randomized trial questioned the added benefit of PET / CT over conventional imaging in patients with liver metastases. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of patients with colorectal cancer in whom PET / CT altered surgical management, in a single tertiary centre. Methods This was a retrospective study of all patients with colorectal cancer who had a PET / CT for colorectal cancer, funded by the Canterbury District Health Board between 2010 and 2014. Results Some 111 PET / CT scans were performed on 105 patients. A total of 38% of PET / CT were for patients with known or suspected liver metastases, 23% for suspected local recurrence and 18% for known or suspected lung metastases. Five scans were for post‐operative patients with a rising carcinoembryonic antigen and no attributable source on conventional imaging. PET / CT identified additional extrahepatic sites of disease in 19 of 111 (17%) scans in patients deemed to have potentially operable disease. Overall, PET / CT altered surgical management following six of 42 (14%) scans for patients with liver metastases, four of 20 (20%) scans for patients with lung metastases and six of 26 (23%) scans for patients with local recurrence. Conclusion PET / CT remains a useful adjunct to conventional imaging in the pre‐operative workup of patients with colorectal cancer.

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