The value of F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance whole-body scans and local enhancement scans in the preoperative staging and resectability assessment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND

In addition to contrast-enhanced multiphase computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), integrated positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) is increasingly being used for the preoperative evaluation of pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore the value of hybrid F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET/MR imaging in preoperative assessment and treatment decision-making.

METHODS

A retrospective data collection (of imaging, clinical, and pathological information) was conducted on patients who underwent F-FDG PET/MR with clinically diagnosed or suspected pancreatic cancer from March 2018 to March 2022 in Ruijin Hospital. The data of 76 patients were initially included, with 1 of the 76 patients eventually being excluded due to a misdiagnosis of inflammatory disease. Of the 75 patients, 38 underwent pancreatic tumor resection and 10 underwent laparoscopic exploration. The accuracy of F-FDG PET/MR for pancreatic cancer staging and the assessment of pancreatic resectability was evaluated based on pathological results, intraoperative findings, and documented final clinical stages of illness. The adjustments to patient treatment plans were also analyzed before and after F-FDG PET/MR examination.

RESULTS

The accuracy of clinical tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging of pancreatic cancer by F-FDG PET/MR was 73.3% (55/75). The area under the curve (AUC) of F-FDG PET/MR for diagnosing the advanced stage (III-IV) versus the nonadvanced stage (I-II) of disease was 0.922 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.852-0.993]. The treatment regimen of 20.0% (15/75) of patients was impacted. The accuracy of the evaluation of the resectability of pancreatic cancer with F-FDG PET/MR was 91.9% (34/37). With the surgical and pathological results being used as a reference, the overall accuracy of preoperative F-FDG PET/MR for T staging was 62.2%, and the AUC for diagnosing T4 versus T1-3 was 0.872 (95% CI: 0.660-1.000).

CONCLUSIONS

F-FDG PET/MR performs well in diagnosing advanced pancreatic cancer and thus may impact the treatment decisions for a considerable number of patients. F-FDG PET/MR has a high level of accuracy in evaluating the resectability of pancreatic cancer before surgery.