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Posted by on Jun 4, 2018 in Melanoma | 0 comments

In a nutshell

This study investigated the effectiveness of the imaging method PET (detects active cancer lesions) in detecting relapses after surgery in stage 3 melanoma patients. Researchers suggested that PET allows the detection of most recurrences.

Some background

Stage 3 melanoma is associated with a high rate of recurrences. Follow-up of patients at high risk of cancer recurrences helps to detect the disease soon after it appears. This improves treatment options and outcomes. Recent studies have shown that PET is more sensitive at detecting metastatic cancer (spread to other parts of the body). However, there is limited information about the effectiveness of PET as a method of follow-up in patients who have undergone surgery.

Methods & findings

This study included information on 170 patients who underwent surgery and were followed-up using PET. Patients were followed for an average of 47 months.

Recurrences were seen in 38% of the patients. 69% of these did not show any symptoms. PET predicted 56-83% of the recurrences and 89-96% of the non-recurrences. The overall sensitivity of PET was 70%.

Of recurrent patients, 52% underwent surgery and 16% remained disease-free after 24 months.

The bottom line

This study determined that PET allows the detection of most recurrences in stage 3 melanoma patients.

Published By :

Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology

Date :

Apr 12, 2018

Original Title :

Surveillance imaging with FDG-PET/CT in the post-operative follow-up of stage 3 melanoma.

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