Imaging is performed in patients with early stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for disease staging and to identify the patients most likely to benefit from surgery. Two recent randomized trials compared conventional staging plus PET with conventional staging alone in patients with NSCLC. Patients who underwent PET were more likely to avoid futile thoracic surgery.
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Levine, M., Julian, J. PET–CT imaging in non-small-cell lung cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 6, 619–620 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2009.163
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2009.163