Annals of nuclear medicine
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Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), also known as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), is now a standard treatment option for patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer or oligometastatic lung tumor who are medically inoperable or medically operable but refuse surgery. When mass-like consolidation is observed on follow-up CT after SABR, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate tumor recurrence from SABR-induced pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, we evaluated the role of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in differentiating tumor recurrence from radiation fibrosis after SABR. ⋯ The combination of FDG uptake patterns and SUV(max) was useful for distinguishing tumor recurrence from radiation fibrosis after SABR.