Demography and Characteristics of Lung Cancer Patients Evaluated by 18F-FDG PET- CT imaging - Retrospective Analysis in NINMAS

Abstract

Introduction: Carcinoma of the lung is one of the most common cancer in Bangladesh. Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) plays an important role in staging and evaluating therapy response. Currently, limited data is available about the demography and characteristics of lung cancer patients in Bangladesh by 18F-FDG PET-CT scan.

Objectives: To evaluate the demographic pattern and pattern of findings in lung cancer patients by 18F-FDG PET-CT scan in the National Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (NINMAS), Dhaka.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in the PET-CT division of NINMAS. A total of 53 patients out of 103 patients with lung cancer were enrolled who were referred to NINMAS from October 2020 to December 2021 for either baseline PET CT or for assessment of therapy response. Data were collected in a predesigned format from old documents and analyzed for demographic characteristics, histopathologic, morphologic and metabolic patterns as well as a comparison of the overall number of lung cancer patients with previous years.

Results: Among the enrolled 53 lung cancer patients the majority (34%) are in the 6th to 7th decades with 56.6% male and 43.4 % female. Adenocarcinoma (62%) and squamous cell carcinoma (24%) were the most common lung cancer subtypes. The majority of patients (53%) came for a therapeutic response evaluation; among them, 32% had a good response following therapy, 25% with progressive disease and others had mixed response, partial response, and stable disease. Nine percent of the patients came for follow up and among them, recurrence is detected in 20%. Lung cancer patients who came for baseline study, (38%) were upstaged (80%) mainly with 20% remaining in the same stage.

Conclusion: The demographic pattern of lung cancer patients observed in this study belonged to 6th & 7th decades having male predominance. Most of the patients were diagnosed with advanced stages of lung cancer. The use of 18FDG PET-CT is crucial for the staging and diagnosis of suspected lung cancer, as well as therapeutic response and follow-up.

Bangladesh J. Nuclear Med. 25(1): 22-27, 2022