Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy with 99mTc-Depreotide (NeoSpect) in discriminating between malignant and benign lesions in the diagnosis of lung cancer: a pilot study

What Was Tested

This clinical trial paper looks at Somatostatin.

To evaluate the diagnostic value of a new somatostatin analog, 99mTc-Depreotide, in differentiating benign from malignant lesions in patients with pulmonary nodules or masses.

Who Took Part

The study group was 28 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

A pilot study was performed on 28 patients referred to their Lung Department on suspicion of lung cancer.

A chest X-ray, computed tomography (CT) of the thorax and upper abdomen, and scintigraphy were done--scintigraphy following the administration of 740 MBq 99mTc-Depreotide.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a pilot study.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger Somatostatin study would be practical.

Planar and tomographical imaging of the thorax and whole-body scanning with a gamma camera were done, and diagnostic outcome of the scintigrams was compared to CT, pathology, and clinical outcome.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Diagnosis, Differential, Lung Diseases, Lung Neoplasms, Organotechnetium Compounds, Pilot Projects, Radionuclide Imaging and Receptors, Somatostatin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a pilot study of Somatostatin in 28 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2004 (Acta radiologica (Stockholm, Sweden : 1987)), a journal based in England.

More context: the Somatostatin compound page, all human trials.