A rare case of ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone syndrome caused by a metastatic neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas detected by 68Ga-DOTANOC and 18F-FDG PET/CT

Clin Nucl Med. 2013 Jul;38(7):e306-8. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0b013e318279ec68.

Abstract

We report a rare case of ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) syndrome caused by a metastatic neuroendocrine tumor (NET) of the pancreas detected by PET/CT using different tracers. A 43-year-old female patient with Cushing syndrome (CS) by suspected ectopic ACTH secretion underwent a 68Ga-DOTANOC and a 18F-FDG PET/CT. Both these functional imaging techniques revealed increased tracer uptake in a pancreatic mass and multiple liver metastases. Histology showed the presence of a mildly differentiated pancreatic NET. 68Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT may be a useful functional imaging method, complementary to 18F-FDG PET/CT, in detecting ACTH-secreting pancreatic NETs.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • ACTH Syndrome, Ectopic / diagnostic imaging
  • ACTH Syndrome, Ectopic / etiology*
  • Adult
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors / complications*
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors / diagnostic imaging
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors / pathology
  • Organometallic Compounds*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / complications*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Substances

  • 68Ga-DOTANOC
  • Organometallic Compounds
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Glucose