Aynur Ozen - Department of Nuclear Medicine, Istanbul Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Tarık Sayın - Department of Radiology, Istanbul Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Ozan Kandemir - Department of Nuclear Medicine, Mugla Training and Research Hospital, Mugla Sıtkı Kocman University, Mugla, Turkey
Ozgul Ekmekcioğlu - Department of Nuclear Medicine, Istanbul Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Serdar Altınay - ۵Department of Pathology, Istanbul Bakırköy Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Eylem Bastug - Department of Nuclear Medicine, Istanbul Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Ali Muhammedoğlu - Department of Pathology, Istanbul Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Atilla Celik - Department of General Surgery, Istanbul Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Ramazan Albayrak - Department of Radiology, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

Objective(s): Breast carcinoma is the most common type of cancer in females. This study aims to compare fluorine-۱۸-fluorodeoxyglucose (۱۸F-FDG) uptake pattern and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value for the detection of the primary tumour and axillary metastases of invasive ductal breast carcinoma.Methods: This study included ۴۰ breast carcinoma lesions taken from ۳۹ patients. After staging by positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), breast surgery with axillary lymph node dissection or sentinel lymph node biopsy was performed.Results: Primary lesion detection rate for PET/CT and diffusion-weighted MRI was high with ۳۹ of ۴۰ lesions (۹۷.۵%). The sensitivity and specificity for the detection of metastatic lymph nodes in axilla were ۴۰.۹%, ۸۸.۹%, with ۱۸F-FDG PET/CT scans and ۴۰.۹%, ۸۳.۳%, for dw-MRI, respectively. No significant correlation was detected between ADC and SUVmax or SUVmax ratios. Estrogen receptor (p=۰.۰۰۷) and progesterone receptor (p=۰.۰۳۶) positive patients had lower ADC values. Tumour SUVmax was lower in T۱ than T۲ tumour size (p=۰.۰۲۷) and progesterone receptor-positive patients (p=۰.۰۲۹). Tumour/background SUVmax was lower in progesterone receptor-positive patients (p=۰.۰۰۴). Tumour/liver SUVmax was higher in grade III patients (p=۰.۰۳۵) and progesterone receptor negative status (p=۰.۰۴۳).Conclusions: This study confirmed the high detection rate of breast carcinoma in both modalities. They have same sensitivity for the detection of axillary lymph node metastases, whereas the PET/CT scan had higher specificity. Furthermore, ADC, SUVmax and SUVmax ratios showed some statistical significance among the patient groups according to different pathological parameters.

Breast carcinoma, Positron Emission Tomography, Standardized maximal uptake, apparent diffusion coefficient, Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging