الفهرس 
Normal Breast AnatomyOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Cancer breast is the most common non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer related death in women. Cancer breast affects women of all ages, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic strata, and geographic locales. Cancer staging is essential in determination of the choice of therapy, as well as patient’s prognosis and chances for survival. Conventional imaging modalities give a good data regarding the primary breast cancer site and extent of the disease yet they cannot precisely detect axillary lymph node involvement and/or the presence of distant metastases, which significantly change therapeutic management of these patients. Whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET/CT) has proven to be an effective imaging modality for staging of the malignant tumors through the entire body in a single examination. Purpose: to illustrate the growing and useful role of PET/CT in evaluation and preoperative assessment of loco- regional disease in recently diagnosed breast cancers and staging. Methods: A total number of 51 female patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer were included in the study. The CT and fused PET-CT images were evaluated regarding the primary tumor and the presence of lymph nodes. Results: Our study has shown that combined PET/CT was superior to CT alone in detection of the primary breast cancer with sensitivity 98.11 % compared to 81.7 % for CT alone. Detection of metastatic axillary and internal mammary lymph nodes was improved by combined PET/CT which detected metastatic axillary lymph nodes in 33 patients and metastatic internal mammary lymph nodes in 9 patients compared to 23 and 4 patients showing positive axillary and internal mammary nodal involvement respectively by CT alone. Conclusion: Combined PET/CT is a single valuable tool provides whole-body overview evaluation for loco-regional assessment of patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer, providing valuable information on axillary and extra-axillary lymph node involvement. PET/CT proved to be an efficient, accurate and non-invasive imaging technique in staging of the disease which is reflected on the patients’ management planes.