Role of 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT in the Initial Staging of Esophageal Cancer

AIM: To investigate the clinical value of 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT for initial staging of esophageal cancer. METHODS: A total of 44 newly diagnosed patients with esophageal cancer were included in the analysis on the basis of postoperative pathology or clinical and radiologic follow-up. RESULTS: All primary lesions showed increased 68Ga-FAPI-04 uptake, with an SUVmax of 14.92 ± 6.91. A total of 561 lymph nodes were verified by surgery (507) or clinical and radiologic follow-up (54), of which 92 lymph nodes were diagnosed as showing metastases. Seventy-five lymph nodes with metastases showed positive findings on 68Ga-FAPI-04, with a diameter of about 1.06 ± 0.53 cm and SUVmax of 8.10±4.71. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for lymph node metastasis detection were 81.5%, 99.3%, 96.6%, 96.2%, and 96.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT showed good diagnostic performance in detecting lymph node metastases of esophageal cancer.