RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Detection of Distant Metastases in Esophageal Cancer with 18F-FDG PET JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 980 OP 987 VO 45 IS 6 A1 Pierre A.M. Heeren A1 Pieter L. Jager A1 Fons Bongaerts A1 Hendrik van Dullemen A1 Wim Sluiter A1 John Th.M. Plukker YR 2004 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/45/6/980.abstract AB Standard staging of esophageal and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) tumors substantially lacks accuracy. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the addition of PET with 18F-FDG is a valuable gain in the initial staging. Methods: Between January 1996 and January 2002, 18F-FDG PET was performed in 74 patients. Conventional staging included CT in all patients and well-performed endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in 52 patients. They were compared with 18F-FDG PET with pathology and follow-up of suspicious lesions as the gold standard. Results: PET identified 70 primary tumors (sensitivity, 95%). Sensitivity to identify locoregional metastases was highest for EUS (69%) but was not different for CT and PET (44% and 55%, respectively). PET was able to identify distant nodal disease in 71% (17/24 patients) compared with 29% (7/24 patients) after combined CT/EUS alone (P = 0.021). Sensitivity to detect distant nodal and systemic (M1) disease increased with PET (78% vs. 37%; P = 0.012). PET upstaged 15 patients (15/74; 20%) correctly as M1 disease, missed by CT/EUS, and correctly downstaged 4 patients (5%) from M1 to M0 disease. However, false upstaging and downstaging was encountered in 5 (7%) and 3 (4%) patients, respectively. Conclusion: PET improves the currently applied staging of esophageal and GEJ tumors, particularly by ameliorating the detection of M1 disease.