Published online Mar 26, 2016. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v6.i1.105
Peer-review started: June 23, 2015
First decision: August 16, 2015
Revised: September 8, 2015
Accepted: February 14, 2016
Article in press: February 16, 2016
Published online: March 26, 2016
Processing time: 269 Days and 9.1 Hours
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Non-small cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma are the main histological subtypes and constitutes around 85% and 15% of all lung cancer respectively. Multimodality treatment plays a key role in the successful management of lung cancer depending upon the histological subtype, stage of disease, and performance status. Imaging modalities play an important role in the diagnosis and accurate staging of the disease, in assessing the response to neoadjuvant therapy, and in the follow-up of the patients. Last decade has witnessed voluminous upsurge in the use of positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT); role of PET-CT has widened exponentially in the management of lung cancer. The present article reviews the role of 18-fluoro-deoxyglucose PET-CT in the management of non small cell lung cancer with emphasis on staging of the disease and the assessment of response to neoadjuvant therapy based on available literature.
Core tip: The evidence is evolving for the role of positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) in the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Available literature supports the use of PET-CT in the staging of NSCLC to have better disease staging (assessment of mediastinal and extra-thoracic disease). Detection of abnormal mediastinal nodes at various basins is the potential advantage of PET-CT for better targeted biopsy and it may lead to reduction in futile surgical interventions. The role of PET-CT in the prediction and assessment of response to neoadjuvant therapy needs further studies.