The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of Ki-67 proliferation index on somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SSRS) with Tc-99m-EDDA-HYNIC-TOC (Tc-99m-Tektrotyd) somatostatin analogue in patients with carcinoid tumors. Sixty-one patients (31 female, 30 male; age range: 33-76 years) were examined: 13 patients highly suspected of having a carcinoid, and 48 patients who had undergone the surgical removal of the tumor. Whole body SSRS at 4 h postinjection, spot scintigrams and SPECT of the selected regions were obtained for all patients. Tc-99m-Tektrotyd scintigraphy was classified as true positive in 26 out of 30 and true negative in 24 out of 28 patients. The sensitivity of Tc-99mTc-Tektrotyd scintigraphy was found to be as high as 94.74% in the group of patients with low mitotic index Ki67 (<2%), and it progressively decreased in patients with higher mitotic index (77.78% for Ki67 2-15% and 20% for Ki67% >20%). The likelihood of Tc-99m-Tektrotyd scan being positive when a carcinoid is present was found to be inversely proportional to the value of Ki67 proliferation index. The results showed that Tc-99m-Tektrotyd SSRS is a sensitive method for diagnosing and staging patients with well-differentiated carcinoid tumors. However, in poorly differentiated tumors with high Ki67 proliferation index, additional analyses are necessary for precise staging.
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