Case report reveals squamous cell carcinoma misidentified as a neuroendocrine tumor via gallium-68 PET scan, indicating diagnostic challenges.
Gallium-68 DOTA-Tyr 3 -octreotate positron emission tomography scan is an important radiologic tool for detecting neuroendocrine tumors. It detects neoplasms by capturing the tumor’s increased density of somatostatin receptor expression. However, multiple neoplastic and non-neoplastic entities express somatostatin receptors, which can be misleading for proper diagnosis. Herein, we report a case of squamous cell carcinoma in a 64-year-old male with a medical history of 20-pack-years of smoking in which a neuroendocrine tumor was suspected per positive gallium-68 DOTA-Tyr 3 -octreotate imaging. He underwent surgical resection and adjuvant radiation with 6-month post-treatment surveillance positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging pending.
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Johnson et al. (2025) studied this question.
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