Diagnostic Accuracy of Gallium-68 Somatostatin Receptor Positron Emission Tomography in Patients with Thoracic and Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Gallium-68 somatostatin receptor (SMSR) positron emission tomography (PET) is a valuable diagnostic tool for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET). To date, a meta-analysis about the diagnostic accuracy of this functional imaging method is lacking. Aim(s): To meta-analyze published data about the diagnostic performance of SMSR PET or PET/CT in patients with NET. Materials and methods: A comprehensive literature search of studies published in PubMed, Scopus and Embase databases through October 2011 and regarding SMSR PET or PET/CT in patients with NET was carried out. Only studies in which SMSR PET or PET/CT were performed in patients with thoracic and/or gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) NET were selected (medullary thyroid tumors and paragangliomas were excluded from the analysis). Pooled sensitivity, pooled specificity and area under the ROC curve were calculated to measure the diagnostic accuracy of SMSR-PET or PET/CT in NET. Results: Seventeen studies comprising 587 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of SMSR PET or PET/CT in detecting NET were 93% (95% CI, 91-95%) and 91% (95% CI, 82-97%), respectively, on a per patient-based analysis. The area under the ROC curve was 0.96. Conclusion: In patients with suspicious thoracic and/or GEPNET, SMSR PET or PET/CT demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity. These accurate techniques should be considered as first-line diagnostic imaging methods in patients with suspicious NET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]