Can FDG PET/CT and CT Exclude N2 and N3 Nodal Disease in Patients with Breast Cancer?

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate if PET-CT and CT were able to exclude N2 and N3 disease in patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: In this study, the PET-CT reports of 211 patients who had been previously diagnosed with breast cancer and who had undergone PET-CT examinations and sentinel lymph node biopsies or axillary lymph node dissections, were reevaluated retrospectively. Whether PET-CT and CT were able to exclude N2 or N3 disease was the subject of evaluation of this study. Results: It was found at the end of the study that PET-CT was able to exclude N2 and N3 involvement in 92,9 % of the cases, whereas CT alone could do the same exclusion in 93,6 %. Conclusion: PET-CT and CT can well exclude N2 and N3 disease in patients with breast cancer. It may be suggested that PET-CT can replace sentinel lymph node biopsy in future preoperative evaluations.