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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Nuclear Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1571929
Clinical value of combined 18F-FDG and 18F-P3BZA imaging for melanoma
Provisionally accepted- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
Objective: This study aims to explore the clinical value of 18F-FDG combined with 18F-P3BZA PET/CT in melanoma patients.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 19 melanoma patients who underwent 18F-FDG and 18F-P3BZA PET/CT scans at the Nuclear Medicine Department/PET Imaging Center of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from March 2022 to March 2024. Compare the diagnostic efficacy of 18F-FDG, 18F-P3BZA alone and combined imaging for melanoma, and discuss the value of combined imaging in TNM staging and clinical treatment decision-making for melanoma patients.Results: The sensitivity of 18F-P3BZA in diagnosing primary lesions of melanoma, all metastases, sentinel lymph node metastases (SLNM), distant lymph node metastases (DLNM), and bone metastases (BM) was 100% (12/12), 71.4% (40/56), 72.4% (21/29), 66.7% (14/21), and 83.3% (5/6), respectively. The corresponding values for 18F-FDG are 91.7% (11/12), 91.1% (51/56), 86.2% (25/29), 95.2% (20/21), and 100% (6/6), respectively. The sensitivity of combined imaging in diagnosing SLNM, DLNM, and all metastases was higher than that of 18F-P3BZA (χ2=7.105, p=0.004; χ2=3.860，p=0.045；χ2=15.604，p<0.001). The specificity of 18F-FDG in diagnosing all metastases, SLNM, DLNM, and BM was 50.0%, 69.2%, 56.3%, and 100%, respectively. The corresponding values of 18F-P3BZA were 81.8%, 100%, 75.0%, and 100%, respectively. Combined imaging improved N and M staging in 31.6% (6/19) of melanoma patients and altered clinical treatment decisions in 26.3% (5/19) of melanoma patients.Conclusion: The specificity of 18F-FDG alone in diagnosing melanoma is low, and it can complement 18F-P3BZA. The combination of 18F-FDG and 18F-P3BZA PET/CT can further improve the detection efficiency of lesions, improve TNM staging, and alter clinical treatment decisions.
Keywords: 18 F-FDG, 18 F-P3BZA, PET/CT, Melanoma, melanin 18 F-FDG, melanin
Received: 06 Feb 2025; Accepted: 01 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 An, Xiang, He, Ma and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiaowei Ma, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
Yunhua Wang, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
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