Patients with adrenocortical cancer (ACC) are submitted to multiple imaging procedures for diagnosis of recurrence and staging. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic values of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) using a combined positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT) modality compared with thoraco-abdomino-pelvic computed tomography (TAP-CT).

Methods: 28 consecutive patients with ACC referred from November 2003 to December 2004 to the Institut Gustave Roussy were included. Mean time between PET/CT and TAP-CT was 16 days. Independent readers analyzed images of each modality. The gold standard was progression on follow-up TAP-CT or pathology.

Results: 269 lesions in 57 organs were depicted in 22 patients. The sensitivities for the detection of distinct lesions and the diagnosis of metastatic organs were 90 and 93% for PET/CT and 88 and 82% for TAP-CT, respectively. Twelve percent of the lesions were seen on PET/CT only and 10% on TAP-CT only. Eighteen percent of the metastatic organs were diagnosed with PET/CT only and 7% with TAP-CT only. Thirty-eight percent of the local relapses were only seen with PET/CT. PET/CT depicted 3 false positive lesions. Treatment modalities were modified by PET/CT findings in 5 cases among which 1 was falsely positive. Tumor size and mitotic rate were significantly associated to FDG uptake. The intensity of FDG uptake (SUVmax>10) and the volume of FDG uptake (> 150 mL) were significant prognostic factors for survival.

Conclusions: We show that FDG-PET/CT is complementary to TAP-CT and of special interest in the diagnosis of local relapses.