The Effectiveness of PET scan Technology in Diagnosis and Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC) and Lymphoma: A Systematic Review of Literature

Positron emission tomography (PET) scan is a non-invasive, complicated and expensive medical imaging technology used for diagnosis and treatment of various diseases including cancers. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of this technology in Iran. The major medical electronic databases including Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, MEDLINE and IranMedex were searched. Studies that compared PET scan with another diagnostic method in terms of sensitivity, specificity and safety were used. PET scan has been found to be a non-invasive and safe procedure for diagnosing metastatic NSCLC with a sensitivity and specificity of 74% to 95% and 81% to 97%, respectively. On the other hand, the sensitivity and specificity of computed tomography (CT) scan have been reported as 60% to 67% and 73% to 77%, respectively. The corresponding values for mediastinoscopy have been 78% and 100%. In lymphoma, the specificity and sensitivity of PET scan (90% and 79% to 100%, respectively) have been higher than those of gamma scan. Although PET scan is not an appropriate method for screening and diagnosing cancer, it can contribute to staging and follow-up processes in cases of NSCLC and lymphoma. This technology adds 0.046 years (about 17 days) to the patient''s life.