Correlation between [¹⁸F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography scan and histology of pelvic nodes in early-stage cervical cancer

Background: The histological results of pelvic lymphadenectomy were studied in patients treated for early-stage cervical cancer (<4 cm) who had no nodal uptake on [¹⁸F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography combined with integrated computed tomography (FDG-PETICT). Patients and Methods: Patients treated between 2005 and 2008 for stage IBl cervical cancer cancer <4 cm who underwent a FDG-PETICT followed by surgical evaluation of pelvic nodes were reviewed. Results: A total of 16 patients were studied. The median age of patients was 43 (range 29-62) years. Surgery was performed laparoscopically and by laparotomic approach in 13 and 3 cases, respectively. Two patients had histologically proven pelvic involvement. The false-negative rate and negative predictive value of PET-CT imaging for pelvic nodal involvement were 13% and 87%, respectively. Conclusion: The accuracy of PET-CT imaging in predicting the pelvic nodal status is very low in patients with early-stage cervical cancer and is not able to replace lymphadenectomy.