March 2025 – Total-Body PET Improves Nodal Staging Accuracy in Lung Cancer Patients
A new study led by Clemens Mingels at UC Davis reveals that Total-Body (TB) PET/CT imaging offers higher diagnostic accuracy than conventional PET/CT in staging non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, the prospective head-to-head comparison assessed 48 patients, imaged with TB PET/CT and short-axial field-of-view (SAFOV) PET/CT, both performed on the same day, using the same radiotracer, [18F]FDG.
The findings showed that TB PET/CT provided slightly higher sensitivity (86.0% vs. 77.2%) and positive predictive value, with fewer staging errors compared to SAFOV PET/CT. Importantly, TB PET/CT detected mediastinal lymph node metastases at lower tumor-to-background ratios and smaller volumes, suggesting improved ability to identify small, low-uptake lesions.
Congratulations, Clemens et al.!
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