Analysis on early detection of lung cancer by PET/CT scan

Abstract

Background: This systemic analysis was conducted to to evaluate the application value of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in early diagnosis of lung cancer. Methods: Clinical studies evaluating the application value of PET/CT for patients underwent PET/CT imaging. The histological diagnosis served as the standard of truth. Results: Four clinical studies which including 1330 patients with pulmonary space-occupying lesions were considered eligible for inclusion. Systemic analysis suggested that, in all 1330 patients, pooled sensitivity was 98.7% (1313.2/1330) and specificity was 58.2%(276.85/476). Conclusion: This systemic analysis suggests that integrated PET/CT imaging provides high sensitivity, and reasonably high specificity, and could be applied for early diagnosis of lung cancer.