Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of FDG-PET/CT for predicting the underestimation of invasive breast cancer in cases of DCIS at needle biopsy.
Patients and methods: Of 83 consecutive cases with diagnoses of DCIS at primary needle biopsy who underwent curative surgery between 2010 and 2013, the association between the SUVmax on FDG-PET/CT before excision and the underestimation of invasive breast cancer was examined.
Results: There were 29 (34.9%) cases diagnosed to have invasive breast cancer at excision. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis showed the cutoff value of the SUVmax to predict underestimation of invasive breast cancer was 1.6. The rates of underestimation were 61.5% for patients with a tumor of SUVmax > 1.6 and 11.4% for patients with a tumor of SUVmax ≤ 1.6 (P < .001). A high value of SUVmax was significantly associated with symptomatic presentation (P < .001), palpability (P < .001), mass formation (P = .013), high Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category (P = .011), and core needle biopsy (P = .007). In multivariate analysis, high SUVmax was only a significant predictive factor of underestimation of invasive breast cancer (hazard ratio, 11.7; 95% confidence interval, 3.70-37.0; P < .001).
Conclusion: SUVmax on FDG-PET/CT is useful for predicting the underestimation of invasive breast cancer in cases of DCIS at needle biopsy.
Keywords: Breast cancer; DCIS; Positron emission tomography; SUV(max); Underestimation.
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