Preoperative Staging for Lung Cancer

Integrating PET data with CT scan results reduced futile thoracotomies but not mortality.

Preoperative staging to determine optimal treatment for patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is crucial, considering, for example, that mediastinal involvement and metastatic disease are indications that surgical resection would be futile. Such staging typically involves computed tomography (CT) scanning, magnetic resonance imaging, and bone scan tests, and accuracy is improved when positron emission tomography (PET) imaging results are combined with CT scan data (N Engl J Med 2003; 348:2500). However, whether staging based on integrated PET and CT results leads to better clinical outcomes is unknown.

To investigate this issue, researchers in Denmark assessed 189 patients who had NSCLC deemed resectable by CT imaging. Patients we…

Reviewing Author

Lin-Chi Chen, MD, PhD