18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography as a diagnostic tool in patients with cervical nodal metastases of unknown primary site: A meta-analysis

Background: We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the value of F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography ((18)FDG PET-CT) for the detection of primary sites in patients with cervical nodal metastases of unknown origin. Methods: Studies were systematically searched for relevant PET-CT original articles in the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. We calculated the primary tumor detection rate, sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios for (18)FDG PET-CT. We also constructed the hierarchic summary receiver operating characteristic curve for (18)FDG PET-CT. Results: This present study analyzed a total of 7 selected studies (246 patients). The primary tumor detection rate, sensitivity and specificity of PET-CT were 0.44 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.31-0.58), 0.97 (95% CI = 0.63-0.99), and 0.68 (95% CI = 0.49-0.83). Area under the curve was 0.83 (95% CI = 0.80-0.86). Conclusions: (18)FDG PET-CT has high sensitivity and low specificity for the detection of primary sites in patients with cervical nodal metastases of unknown origin. Crown Copyright (c) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.