{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0286493860845839, 'fraction_numerical': 0.020918599363346977, 'mean_word_length': 4.714285714285714, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
PET evaluation of lung cancer.

In the last hundred years, lung cancer has risen from a reportable disease to the most common cause of death from cancer in both men and women in developed countries (1). When descriptions of lung cancer were published in 1912, there were only 374 reported cases (2). In the 1950s, little more than the chest radiograph and sputum cytologic analysis were available for lung cancer screening. Since then, the mortality from lung cancer has decreased, but the 5-y cure rates have barely improved (1). The annual number of deaths from lung cancer is greater than the numbers of deaths from breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. More than 150,000 patients died of lung cancer in 2004. The 5-y survival rates currently are 16% in the United States and 5% in the United Kingdom. The association of lung cancer with tobacco smoking was initially reported in the 1950s (3) and subsequently led to the determination by the U.S. Surgeon General that smoking is harmful to one’s health (4). Further investigation has led to the discovery that this association is related to the type and amount of tobacco product used, the age at initiation, and the duration of use. Lung cancer often presents as a solitary pulmonary nodule on chest radiographs. Chest radiographs usually are performed for patients as a preoperative or physical examination screening test, often in the absence of symptoms. Few signs and symptoms are present at an early stage, leading to more advanced disease when patients present to their physicians. One third of lung nodules in patients more than 35 y old are found to be malignant. Over 50% of the radiographically indeterminate nodules resected at thoracoscopy are benign (5). It is clear that there is a need for the accurate diagnosis of these lesions. The use of PET has much promise as an aid to the noninvasive evaluation of lung cancer. 18F-FDG PET currently is indicated for the characterization of lung lesions, staging of non–small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), detection of distant metastases, and diagnosis of recurrent disease. Furthermore, many institutions have found significant value in 18F-FDG PET for treatment monitoring (6–8).