Findings with 18F-FDG PET/CT in 3 Different Groups
| Characteristic | Stage IIA (n = 36; 34 T2N2 and 2 T1N1) | Stage IIB and primary operable IIIA (n = 77; 20 T3N0, 28 T2N1, and 29 T3N1) | Stage IIIA with N2 disease (n = 18; 9 T2N2 and 9 T3N2) |
| Overall stage modifications | 2 (5.5) | 10 (13) | 10 (56) |
| Lymph nodes outside Berg-I and Berg-II axillary levels (% patients) | 1 (2.8) | 5 (6.5) | 5 (27.8) |
| Internal mammary involvement | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Infraclavicular | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Supraclavicular | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Distant metastases | 1 (2.8) | 7 (9.1) | 7 (38.9) |
| Bone metastases | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Liver metastases | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Lung metastases | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Other distant metastases | 1 (mediastinal lymph node) | 0 | 1 (pleura) |
Total number of patients was 131: 36 (27%) stage IIA; 77 (59%) stage IIB plus primary operable IIIA; and 18 (14%) stage IIIA due to N2 disease. Data in parentheses are percentages. Results are expressed on per-patient basis.