Incremental value of delayed [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR in the detection of liver metastases from gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
9 affiliations
- 1Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China.
- 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350212, China.
- 3Department of Nuclear Medicine, Provincial Clinical Key Specialty of Fujian, Fuzhou, 350212, China.
- 4, No. 20 Chazhong Road, Taijiang District, Fuzhou, China.
- 5Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China. [email protected].
- 6Department of Nuclear Medicine, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350212, China. [email protected].
- 7Department of Nuclear Medicine, Provincial Clinical Key Specialty of Fujian, Fuzhou, 350212, China. [email protected].
- 8Fujian Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine for Cancer, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350005, China. [email protected].
- 9, No. 20 Chazhong Road, Taijiang District, Fuzhou, China. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
[⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT has been widely used in the diagnosis and staging of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), while PET/MR may have greater advantages in the diagnosis of hepatic lesions. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of conventional [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and delayed PET/MR in detecting hepatic metastases in patients with GEP-NETs.Methods
This prospective observational study enrolled GEP-NETs patients with liver metastases who underwent conventional [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT followed by delayed PET/MR of the upper abdomen on the same day. The final status of all identified lesions was defined by a composite reference standard integrating histopathology, clinical follow-up, and contrast-enhanced MRI findings. Lesion detection rates, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), target-to-background ratio (TBR), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were compared between the two modalities.Results
46 patients (mean age 56.4 ± 12.9 years, 18 males and 28 females) were included. A total of 542 liver metastases were identified, with PET/CT detecting 368 (67.9%) lesions and delayed PET/MR contributing an additional 146 (94.8%) lesions. For matched lesions, SUVmax and TBR values showed no statistically significant differences between PET/CT and delayed PET/MR imaging (17.2 ± 11.0 vs. 16.4 ± 10.8, P = 0.746; 4.1 ± 3.6 vs. 4.0 ± 2.8, P = 0.178, respectively). For additional lesions detected on delayed PET/MR, 54 high-uptake liver metastases were identified (mean diameter 4.7 ± 1.9 mm; SUVmax 9.1 ± 2.2), along with 92 non-uptake lesions (mean diameter 5.5 ± 2.3 mm; Z = - 2.149, P = 0.0315). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy between conventional PET/CT and delayed PET/MR were (65.9% vs. 92.4%, P < 0.001), (59.3% vs. 51.9%, P = 0.77) and (65.6% vs.90.5%, P < 0.001), respectively.Conclusion
Delayed [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR with an optimized acquisition protocol improved liver metastasis detection in GEP-NETs compared with conventional PET/CT. Combining PET/CT with delayed PET/MR provides a complementary strategy for hepatic staging in selected clinical settings.
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BibTeX
@article{lin2026incremental,
title = {{Incremental value of delayed [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR in the detection of liver metastases from gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.}},
author = {Zefang Lin and Sen Ma and Shaoming Chen and Jiaying Zhang and Zenan Wu and Weibing Miao},
journal = {BMC medical imaging},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12880-026-02641-4},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972535},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Incremental value of delayed [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR in the detection of liver metastases from gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
AU - Zefang Lin
AU - Sen Ma
AU - Shaoming Chen
AU - Jiaying Zhang
AU - Zenan Wu
AU - Weibing Miao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/31
JO - BMC medical imaging
DO - 10.1186/s12880-026-02641-4
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972535
AB - Background [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT has been widely used in the diagnosis and staging of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), while PET/MR may have greater advantages in the diagnosis of hepatic lesions. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of conventional [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT and delayed PET/MR in detecting hepatic metastases in patients with GEP-NETs.Methods This prospective observational study enrolled GEP-NETs patients with liver metastases who underwent conventional [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT followed by delayed PET/MR of the upper abdomen on the same day. The final status of all identified lesions was defined by a composite reference standard integrating histopathology, clinical follow-up, and contrast-enhanced MRI findings. Lesion detection rates, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), target-to-background ratio (TBR), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were compared between the two modalities.Results 46 patients (mean age 56.4 ± 12.9 years, 18 males and 28 females) were included. A total of 542 liver metastases were identified, with PET/CT detecting 368 (67.9%) lesions and delayed PET/MR contributing an additional 146 (94.8%) lesions. For matched lesions, SUVmax and TBR values showed no statistically significant differences between PET/CT and delayed PET/MR imaging (17.2 ± 11.0 vs. 16.4 ± 10.8, P = 0.746; 4.1 ± 3.6 vs. 4.0 ± 2.8, P = 0.178, respectively). For additional lesions detected on delayed PET/MR, 54 high-uptake liver metastases were identified (mean diameter 4.7 ± 1.9 mm; SUVmax 9.1 ± 2.2), along with 92 non-uptake lesions (mean diameter 5.5 ± 2.3 mm; Z = - 2.149, P = 0.0315). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy between conventional PET/CT and delayed PET/MR were (65.9% vs. 92.4%, P < 0.001), (59.3% vs. 51.9%, P = 0.77) and (65.6% vs.90.5%, P < 0.001), respectively.Conclusion Delayed [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/MR with an optimized acquisition protocol improved liver metastasis detection in GEP-NETs compared with conventional PET/CT. Combining PET/CT with delayed PET/MR provides a complementary strategy for hepatic staging in selected clinical settings.
SN - 1471-2342
ER -