Indeterminate lung nodules in cancer patients: pretest probability of malignancy and the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT

AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2014 Mar;202(3):507-14. doi: 10.2214/AJR.13.11728.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine likelihood of malignancy for indeterminate lung nodules identified on CT comparing two standardized models with (18)F-FDG PET/CT.

Materials and methods: Fifty-nine cancer patients with indeterminate lung nodules (solid tumors; diameter, ≥5 mm) on CT had FDG PET/CT for lesion characterization. Mayo Clinic and Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study models of likelihood of malignancy were applied to solitary pulmonary nodules. High probability of malignancy was assigned a priori for multiple nodules. Low (<5%), intermediate (5-60%), and high (>60%) pretest malignancy probabilities were analyzed separately. Patients were reclassified with PET/CT. Histopathology or 2-year imaging follow-up established diagnosis. Outcome-based reclassification differences were defined as net reclassification improvement. A null hypothesis of asymptotic test was applied.

Results: Thirty-one patients had histology-proven malignancy. PET/CT was true-positive in 24 and true-negative in 25 cases. Negative predictive value was 78% and positive predictive value was 89%. On the basis of the Mayo Clinic model (n=31), 18 patients had low, 12 had intermediate, and one had high pretest likelihood; on the basis of the Veterans Affairs model (n=26), 5 patients had low, 20 had intermediate, and one had high pretest likelihood. Because of multiple lung nodules, 28 patients were classified as having high malignancy risk. PET/CT showed 32 negative and 27 positive scans. Net reclassification improvements respectively were 0.95 and 1.6 for Mayo Clinic and Veterans Affairs models (both p<0.0001). Fourteen of 31 (45.2%) and 12 of 26 (46.2%) patients with low and intermediate pretest likelihood, respectively, had positive findings on PET/CT for the Mayo Clinic and Veterans Affairs models, respectively. Of 15 patients with high pretest likelihood and negative findings on PET/CT, 13 (86.7%) did not have lung malignancy.

Conclusion: PET/CT improves stratification of cancer patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules. A substantial number of patients considered at low and intermediate pretest likelihood of malignancy with histology-proven lung malignancy showed abnormal PET/CT findings.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Data Interpretation, Statistical
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
  • Humans
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Male
  • Multimodal Imaging / methods*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Assessment
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Solitary Pulmonary Nodule / diagnosis*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18