Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Spring;7(2):141-148.
doi: 10.22038/AOJNMB.2019.13348.

Efficacy of Galium-68 DOTATATE PET/CT in the Detection of Metastasis Rate of Well-Differentiated Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Halil Komek  1 , Tansel Ansal Balci  2 , Canan Can  1
Affiliations

Efficacy of Galium-68 DOTATATE PET/CT in the Detection of Metastasis Rate of Well-Differentiated Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Halil Komek et al. Asia Ocean J Nucl Med Biol. 2019 Spring.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine metastasis rate in patients with well-differentiated grade1 (G1) and grade 2 (G2) gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP NETs) using the gallium-68 DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography (68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT). This study was also targeted toward investigating the relationship of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) with mitotic count, histological grade, and Ki-67 index.

Methods: This retrospective study included 38 patients (i.e., 17 males and 21 females) with G1 or G2 GEP NETs who underwent 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in Diyarbakir Gazi Yasargil training and research hospital between November 2014 and March 2018. The patients had at least one positive lesion that was approved by two nuclear medicine specialists with a minimum of 10 years of experience.

Results: The median age of the patients was 50 years (age range: 27-80 years), and their mean age was 52±15 years. Out of 38 patients, 1 (2.6%), 2 (5.2%), 2 (5.2%), 3 (7.8%), 10 (28.5%), and 19 (50%) patients had primary hepatic, primary mesenteric, colon, duodenal, gastric, and pancreatic NETs, respectively. In addition, the liver metastasis, local lymph node invasions, distant lymph node metastasis, bone metastasis, peritoneal involvement, and lung metastasis were observed in 42%, 21%, 15.7%, 13%, 7.8%, and 5% of the cases, respectively. The SUVmax median values of G1 and G2 tumors were 9.45 (range: 4.2-43.6) and 34.9 (range: 4.1-103), respectively (P=0.003). The Ki-67 index showed a negative correlation with the SUVmax value of the liver metastases and the highest SUVmax value (P=0.001 and P=0.002, respectively). There was also a negative correlation between mitosis count and the highest SUVmax value (P=0.011).

Conclusion: Based on the findings, although [68Ga]DOTATATE PET/CT is successfully used to diagnose primary GEP NETs and their metastases, the SUVmax value obtained from DOTATATE PET/CT showed a negative correlation with Ki-67 and mitotic count.

Keywords: 68Ga-DOTATATE; Gastroenteropancreatic (GEP); Neuroendocrine tumor (NET)PET/CT.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Galium-68 DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography images of a 27-year-old female patient with primary pancreatic grade 2 neuroendocrine tumor (NET) showing primary NET in the pancreas tail and metastatic foci in the liver
Figure 2
Figure 2
Galium-68 DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography images of a 47-year-old female patient with primary pancreatic grade 2 neuroendocrine tumor showing widespread bone metastases
Figure 3
Figure 3
Galium-68 DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography images of a 44-year-old male patient with mesenteric grade 1 neuroendocrine tumor showing a nodular lesion with somatostatin receptor expression in the mesentery
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Modlin IM, Lye KD, Kidd M. A 5-decade analysis of 13,715 carcinoid tumors. Cancer. 2003;97:934–959. - PubMed
    1. Kim JY, Hong SM, Ro JY. Recent updates on grading and classification of neuroendocrine tumors. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2017;29:11–16. - PubMed
    1. Falconi M, Plöckinger U, Kwekkeboom DJ, Manfredi R, Korner M, Kvols L, et al. Well-differentiated pancreatic nonfunctioning tumors/ carcinoma. Neuroendocrinology. 2006;84:196–211. - PubMed
    1. Basuroy R, Srirajaskanthan R, Ramage JK. A multimodal approach to the management of neuroendocrine tumour liver metastases. Int J Hepatol. 2012;2012:819193. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tirosh A, Kebebew E. The utility of 68Ga-DOTATATE positron-emission tomography/computed tomography in the diagnosis, management, follow-up and prognosis of neuroendocrine tumors. Future Oncol. 2018;14:111–122. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources