F-18 FDG PET/CT vs. RAI-WBS and neck USG in early diagnosis of recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer

Abstract Background: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) contributes up to 90% of total thyroid malignancies, and due to high recurrence chances, post-operative surveillance is performed by regular clinical follow-ups with routine neck ultrasonography (USG) and radioactive iodine whole-body scan (RAI-WBS). Objectives: Positron emission tomography and computed tomography (F-18 FDG PET/CT) has emerged as promising tools for the early detection of many malignancies and therefore in the present study aims to analyze the effectiveness of F-18 FDG PET/CT 1 Springer Nature 2021 L A T E X template Recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer vs. RAI-WBS and neck USG in early diagnosis of recurrence in differentiated thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy. Methods: For this, total 30 patients diagnosed with the DTC were recruited in the study and were followed for the assessment of recurrence of the disease. Either F-18 FDG PET/CT or RAI-WBS and neck USG was used as a recurrence assessment tool and data was compared for the sensitivity and specificity of the tool. Results: The recurrence rate was found to be 26.67% in the present study. F-18 FDG PET/CT exhibited a significant advantage over RAI-WBS and neck USG for early detection of recurrence of DTC. F-18 FDG PET/CT was found to exhibit good sensitivity and high specificity compare to the RAI-WBS and neck USG for early detection of recurrence of DTC. Conclusion: F-18 FDG PET/CT is recommended to use in those cases which have a high suspicion of DTC recurrence but is marked negative in other imaging techniques.