Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Diagnostic performance of Gallium-68 somatostatin receptor PET and PET/CT in patients with thoracic and gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours: a meta-analysis

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Published:
Endocrine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Gallium-68 somatostatin receptor (SMSR) positron emission tomography (PET) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) are valuable diagnostic tools for patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). To date, a meta-analysis about the diagnostic accuracy of these imaging methods is lacking. Aim of our study is to meta-analyse published data about the diagnostic performance of SMSR PET or PET/CT in patients with thoracic and/or gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) NETs. A comprehensive computer literature search of studies published in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Embase databases through October 2011 and regarding SMSR PET or PET/CT in patients with NETs was carried out. Only studies in which SMSR PET or PET/CT were performed in patients with thoracic and/or GEP NETs were selected (medullary thyroid tumours and neural crest derived tumours were excluded from the analysis). Pooled sensitivity, pooled specificity and area under the ROC curve were calculated to measure the diagnostic accuracy of SMSR PET and PET/CT in NETs. Results: Sixteen studies comprising 567 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of SMSR PET or PET/CT in detecting NETs were 93% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 91–95%) and 91% (95% CI: 82–97%), respectively, on a per patient-based analysis. The area under the ROC curve was 0.96. In patients with suspicious thoracic and/or GEP NETs, SMSR PET and PET/CT demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity. These accurate techniques should be considered as first-line diagnostic imaging methods in patients with suspicious thoracic and/or GEP NETs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A. Faggiano, P. Ferolla, F. Grimaldi, D. Campana, M. Manzoni, M.V. Davì, A. Bianchi, R. Valcavi, E. Papini, D. Giuffrida, D. Ferone, G. Fanciulli, G. Arnaldi, G.M. Franchi, G. Francia, G. Fasola, L. Crino, A. Pontecorvi, P. Tomassetti, A. Colao, Natural history of gastro-entero-pancreatic and thoracic neuroendocrine tumors. Data from a large prospective and retrospective Italian Epidemiological study: the net management study. J. Endocrinol. Invest. (2011). doi:10.3275/8102

  2. G. Rindi, B. Wiedenmann, Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the gut and pancreas: new insights. Nat. Rev. Endocrinol. 8, 54–64 (2011)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. V. Ambrosini, M. Fani, S. Fanti, F. Forrer, H.R. Maecke, Radiopeptide imaging and therapy in Europe. J. Nucl. Med. 52(Suppl 2), 42S–55S (2011)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. M.M. Graham, Y. Menda, Radiopeptide imaging and therapy in the United States. J. Nucl. Med. 52(Suppl 2), 56S–63S (2011)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. V. Rufini, M.L. Calcagni, R.P. Baum, Imaging of neuroendocrine tumors. Semin. Nucl. Med. 36, 228–247 (2006)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. D.J. Kwekkeboom, E.P. Krenning, K. Scheidhauer, V. Lewington, R. Lebtahi, A. Grossman, P. Vitek, A. Sundin, Mallorca consensus conference participants; European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society. ENETS consensus guidelines for the standards of care in neuroendocrine tumors: somatostatin receptor imaging with (111)In-pentetreotide. Neuroendocrinology 90, 184–189 (2009)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. A.I. Vinik, E.A. Woltering, R.R. Warner, M. Caplin, T.M. O’Dorisio, G.A. Wiseman, D. Coppola, North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS). NANETS consensus guidelines for the diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumor. Pancreas 39, 713–734 (2010)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. N.F. Schreiter, W. Brenner, M. Nogami, R. Buchert, A. Huppertz, U.F. Pape, V. Prasad, B. Hamm, M.H. Maurer, Cost comparison of (111)In-DTPA-octreotide scintigraphy and (68)Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT for staging enteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 39, 72–82 (2012)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. J. Zamora, V. Abraira, A. Muriel, K. Khan, A. Coomarasamy, Meta-DiSc: a software for meta-analysis of test accuracy data. BMC Med. Res. Methodol. 6, 31 (2006)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. M. Hofmann, H. Maecke, R. Börner, E. Weckesser, P. Schöffski, L. Oei, J. Schumacher, M. Henze, A. Heppeler, J. Meyer, H. Knapp, Biokinetics and imaging with the somatostatin receptor PET radioligand (68)Ga-DOTATOC: preliminary data. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. 28, 1751–1757 (2001)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. S. Koukouraki, L.G. Strauss, V. Georgoulias, J. Schuhmacher, U. Haberkorn, N. Karkavitsas, A. Dimitrakopoulou-Strauss, Evaluation of the pharmacokinetics of 68Ga-DOTATOC in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumours scheduled for 90Y-DOTATOC therapy. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 33, 460–466 (2006)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. M. Gabriel, C. Decristoforo, D. Kendler, G. Dobrozemsky, D. Heute, C. Uprimny, P. Kovacs, E. Von Guggenberg, R. Bale, I.J. Virgolini, 68Ga-DOTA-Tyr3-octreotide PET in neuroendocrine tumors: comparison with somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and CT. J. Nucl. Med. 48, 508–518 (2007)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. I. Buchmann, M. Henze, S. Engelbrecht, M. Eisenhut, A. Runz, M. Schäfer, T. Schilling, S. Haufe, T. Herrmann, U. Haberkorn, Comparison of 68Ga-DOTATOC PET and 111In-DTPAOC (Octreoscan) SPECT in patients with neuroendocrine tumours. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 34, 1617–1626 (2007)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. I. Kayani, J.B. Bomanji, A. Groves, G. Conway, S. Gacinovic, T. Win, J. Dickson, M. Caplin, P.J. Ell, Functional imaging of neuroendocrine tumors with combined PET/CT using 68Ga-DOTATATE (DOTA-DPhe1, Tyr3-octreotate) and 18F-FDG. Cancer 112, 2447–2455 (2008)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. V. Ambrosini, P. Tomassetti, P. Castellucci, D. Campana, G. Montini, D. Rubello, C. Nanni, A. Rizzello, R. Franchi, S. Fanti, Comparison between 68Ga-DOTA-NOC and 18F-DOPA PET for the detection of gastro-entero-pancreatic and lung neuro-endocrine tumours. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 35, 1431–1438 (2008)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. V. Ambrosini, P. Castellucci, D. Rubello, C. Nanni, A. Musto, V. Allegri, G.C. Montini, S. Mattioli, G. Grassetto, A. Al-Nahhas, R. Franchi, S. Fanti, 68Ga-DOTA-NOC: a new PET tracer for evaluating patients with bronchial carcinoid. Nucl. Med. Commun. 30, 281–286 (2009)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. I. Kayani, B.G. Conry, A.M. Groves, T. Win, J. Dickson, M. Caplin, J.B. Bomanji, A comparison of 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT in pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors. J. Nucl. Med. 50, 1927–1932 (2009)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. A. Haug, C.J. Auernhammer, B. Wängler, R. Tiling, G. Schmidt, B. Göke, P. Bartenstein, G. Pöpperl, Intraindividual comparison of 68Ga-DOTA-TATE and 18F-DOPA PET in patients with well-differentiated metastatic neuroendocrine tumours. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 36, 765–770 (2009)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. A. Frilling, G.C. Sotiropoulos, A. Radtke, M. Malago, A. Bockisch, H. Kuehl, J. Li, C.E. Broelsch, The impact of 68Ga-DOTATOC positron emission tomography/computed tomography on the multimodal management of patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Ann. Surg. 252, 850–856 (2010)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. T. Jindal, A. Kumar, B. Venkitaraman, R. Dutta, R. Kumar, Role of (68)Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT in the evaluation of primary pulmonary carcinoids. Korean J. Intern. Med. 25, 386–391 (2010)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Y. Krausz, N. Freedman, R. Rubinstein, E. Lavie, M. Orevi, S. Tshori, A. Salmon, B. Glaser, R. Chisin, E. Mishani, D. Gross J, 68Ga-DOTA-NOC PET/CT imaging of neuroendocrine tumors: comparison with ¹¹¹In-DTPA-octreotide (OctreoScan®). Mol. Imaging Biol. 13, 583–593 (2011)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. R. Srirajaskanthan, I. Kayani, A.M. Quigley, J. Soh, M.E. Caplin, J. Bomanji, The role of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET in patients with neuroendocrine tumors and negative or equivocal findings on 111In-DTPA-octreotide scintigraphy. J. Nucl. Med. 51, 875–882 (2010)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. A. Versari, L. Camellini, G. Carlinfante, A. Frasoldati, F. Nicoli, E. Grassi, C. Gallo, F.P. Giunta, A. Fraternali, D. Salvo, M. Asti, F. Azzolini, V. Iori, R. Sassatelli, Ga-68 DOTATOC PET, endoscopic ultrasonography, and multidetector CT in the diagnosis of duodenopancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: a single-centre retrospective study. Clin. Nucl. Med. 35, 321–328 (2010)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. J. Ruf, J. Schiefer, C. Furth, O. Kosiek, S. Kropf, F. Heuck, T. Denecke, M. Pavel, A. Pascher, B. Wiedenmann, H. Amthauer, 68Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT of neuroendocrine tumors: spotlight on the CT phases of a triple-phase protocol. J. Nucl. Med. 52, 697–704 (2011)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. N. Naswa, P. Sharma, A. Kumar, A.H. Nazar, R. Kumar, S. Chumber, C. Bal, Gallium-68-DOTA-NOC PET/CT of patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: a prospective single-center study. AJR Am. J. Roentgenol. 197, 1221–1228 (2011)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. K.I. Alexandraki, G. Kaltsas, Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: new insights in the diagnosis and therapy. Endocrine 41, 40–52 (2012)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. K.L. Yim, Role of biological targeted therapies in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours. Endocrine 40, 181–186 (2011)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. H. Xu, M. Zhang, G. Zhai, M. Zhang, G. Ning, B. Li, The role of integrated (18)F-FDG PET/CT in identification of ectopic ACTH secretion tumors. Endocrine 36, 385–391 (2009)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. T.D. Poeppel, I. Binse, S. Petersenn, H. Lahner, M. Schott, G. Antoch, W. Brandau, A. Bockisch, C. Boy, 68Ga-DOTATOC versus 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in functional imaging of neuroendocrine tumors. J. Nucl. Med. 52, 1864–1870 (2011)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. D. Wild, B.J. Bomanji, J.C. Reubi, H.R. Maecke, M.E. Caplin, P.J. Ell, Comparison of 68Ga-DOTA-NOC and 68Ga-DOTA-TATE PET/CT in the detection of GEP NETs. Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging 36(Suppl 2), S201 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Authors are grateful to Ms. Barbara Muoio for her technical support in bibliographic research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giorgio Treglia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Treglia, G., Castaldi, P., Rindi, G. et al. Diagnostic performance of Gallium-68 somatostatin receptor PET and PET/CT in patients with thoracic and gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours: a meta-analysis. Endocrine 42, 80–87 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-012-9631-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-012-9631-1

Keywords

Navigation