BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Accurate staging at the time of diagnosis is very important in deciding on the appropriate treatment for cancer patients. FDG PET indicates metabolic changes in cancer cells, enabling the early detection of lesions. This has the advantage of allowing more accurate staging than is possible with conventional staging tools, and has led to the incorporation of FDG PET in the initial work-up protocols for lung cancer patients. In this study, we evaluated the clinical impact of FDG PET as an initial staging tool, on the therapeutic management of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODS Patients diagnosed with NSCLC by histopathology were retrospectively identified and both chest CT and FDG PET were performed for initial staging. Information was collected regarding the results of conventional versus FDG PET staging, and any resulting modifications of treatment were evaluated.

RESULTS Among the 537 patients who were evaluated FDG PET resulted in upstaging of the tumour in 91 (17%) and downstaging of the tumour in 68 (13%). Consequently, therapeutic management was modified in 118 patients (22%). Furthermore, use of FDG PET resulted in the detection of a second primary cancer in six patients.

CONCLUSIONS This study confirms that FDG PET has a considerable impact on the initial staging and therapeutic management of patients with NSCLC.