Purpose: Retrocrural lymph nodes (RCLNs) communicate with retroperitoneal and posterior mediastinal LNs. It is possible that, when RCLNs are involved, supra-diaphragmatic extension will occur in abdomino-pelvic cancers. The authors investigated performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT to diagnose RCLN metastasis and whether RCLN metastases were associated with supra-diaphragmatic lymphatic metastases of ovarian cancer.
Materials and methods: Sixty-seven patients with stage IV ovarian cancer who had undergone (18)F-FDG PET/CT were included in this retrospective study. Diagnostic performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for RCLN metastasis was evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups by presence or absence of supra-diaphragmatic LN metastasis. The prevalences of RCLN metastasis between the two groups were compared and the odds ratio was calculated.
Results: Sensitivity and specificity of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for RCLN metastasis were 96.3 and 100%, respectively. Of the 67 study subjects, 27 patients had RCLN metastases (40.3%). Fifty patients had supra-diaphragmatic LN metastases. (18)F-FDG PET/CT showed 26 RCLN metastases in patients with supra-diaphragmatic LN metastases (54.5%), and only 1 in patients without supra-diaphragmatic LN metastasis (5.9%), and the difference between two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The odds ratio that patients with RCLN metastasis would have supra-diaphragmatic LN metastasis was 17.3 (95% confidence interval = 2.1 to 140.9, P = 0.008).
Conclusion: Performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT to diagnose RCLN metastasis was excellent. RCLN metastasis revealed by (18)F-FDG PET/CT was strongly associated with supra-diaphragmatic LN spread of ovarian cancer. Thus, RCLN metastasis could be used as a predictor of supra-diaphragmatic lymphatic metastasis of ovarian cancer.
Keywords: F-FDG; Lymphatic metastasis; Ovarian cancer; PET/CT; Retrocrural lymph node.