Supplementary Material for: 68Gallium DOTANOC-PET Imaging in Lung Carcinoids: Impact on Patients' Management

<p><b><i>Background:</i></b>⁶⁸Gallium DOTA-PET imaging is
preferable to standard somatostatin receptor scintigraphy where
available; however, its role in the management of lung carcinoid tumours
(LC) remains unclear. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> All consecutive patients
with histologically confirmed LC from two ENETS Centres of Excellence
were identified retrospectively. The primary objective was to assess the
impact of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTANOC-PET on clinical management in patients with LC. <b><i>Results:</i></b>
Of 166 patients screened, 46 were eligible: 52% female, median age 57
years (range 21-86); type of LC: diffuse idiopathic pulmonary
neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (4%), typical (44%), atypical (35%), not
reported (17%); stage: localised (63%), locally advanced (13%), and
metastatic (17%) (7% unknown). A total of 47 ⁶⁸Ga-DOTANOCs
were performed with the following rationale: LC diagnosis confirmation
(4; 9%), primary tumour identification (2; 4%), post-surgical assessment
(19; 40%), staging (patients with known LC present at time of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTANOC)
(19; 40%), and consideration of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy
(3; 7%). Twenty-seven (57%) scans showed evidence of non-physiological
uptake: median maximum standardised uptake value 7.2 (range 1.42-53). ⁶⁸Ga-DOTANOC
provided additional information in 37% (95% CI 22-51) of patients and
impacted on management in 26% (95% CI 12-41); 9 patients (21%) were
identified to have occult sites of metastases. Out of the 19 patients
with post-surgical ⁶⁸Ga-DOTANOC, 3 (16%) were identified to have distant metastases. There were no differences in the rate of practice changing ⁶⁸Ga-DOTANOC results by type of LC (<i>p</i> value 0.5). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Our results support the role of ⁶⁸Ga-DOTANOC
for optimising the management of patients with LC, including
post-surgical re-staging due to the potential for identifying occult
metastases.</p>