Primary Sarcomatoid Carcinoma of the Lung: Radiometabolic (18F-FDG PET/CT) Findings and Correlation with Clinico-Pathological and Survival Results

• Published in: Lung 2016-08, Vol.194 (4), p.653-657
• Main Authors: Rapicetta, Cristian, Lococo, Filippo, Stefani, Alessandro, Rossi, Giulio, Ricchetti, Tommaso, Filice, Angelina, Franceschetto, Antonella, Treglia, Giorgio, Paci, Massimiliano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Care and treatment; Causes of; Diagnosis; Lung cancer; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Non-small cell lung cancer; Nuclear medicine; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Survival analysis
• ISSN: 0341-2040; 1432-1750
• DOI: 10.1007/s00408-016-9904-1

Introduction Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is a very rare and uninvestigated subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods The aims of this study were to define the radiometabolic features (by 18 F-FDG PET/CT) in a bi-centric cohort of 49 PSC patients and to explore their relation with clinico-pathological characteristics and long-term survival results after surgical treatment. Results There were 40 males and 9 females aged 65.2 ± 10.47 years. Overall long-term survival was 26.7 % at 5 years. Mean and median values of SUVmax were 15.21 and 15, respectively (SD ±5.5). Performing an age-, gender- and staging-matched analysis comparing PSC Stage-I only with a cohort of Stage-I NSCLC ( n  = 93), we observed significantly higher SUVmax values in PSC group (15.11 vs 7.66, p  = 0.001). Conclusions No differences in terms of SUVmax were found with regard to tumour dimensions, histology (pure vs mixed, pleomorphic vs others), pathological stage and pattern of recurrence. P-stage, surgical radicality, vascular/lymphatic invasion but not SUVmax affected long-term survival in PSC.