Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and advantages of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for N and M staging of malignant melanoma.
Methods: A total of 114 patients (69 males, 45 females) with AJCC stage II-IV malignant melanoma were recruited. The diagnostic accuracy for N- and M-staging was determined for CT alone, PET alone and PET/CT.
Results: PET/CT imaging provided significantly more accurate interpretations regarding overall N- and M-staging than PET or CT alone (97.4% vs 94.7% and 88.6%). Overall N- and M-stage was correctly determined by PET/CT (98.2%) versus PET (93.9%) and CT (83.3%) and the differences were significant (P < 0.01).
Conclusion: The diagnostic performance of FDG-PET/CT is excellent for N- and M-staging of melanoma patients, especially for detecting or excluding distant metastases.