Cervical Lymph Nodes Mimicking Metastases: A Case With Breast Cancer

We aimed to present a case with breast cancer which has cervical lymph nodes with increased FDG uptake in 18F-FDG PET/ CT and has biopsy result of tuberculosis lymphadenitis. Sixty-three year-old female patient with breast cancer complaining cervical and thoracal pain was imaged with PET/CT. PET/CT showed increased FDG uptake in bilaterally cervical, left submandibular and left prevertebral lymph nodes. The clinician considered that this image was related to an infectious process and continued to chemotherapy. A solid lesion was determined in follow-up ultrasonography. A PET/CT imaging was done to confirm this lesion. Increasing in quantity and SUVmax values of cervical, submandibular and prevertebral lymph nodes was determined. There was also a right axillary lymph node and a hypodense lesion with increased FDG uptake in liver. Biopsy was recommended because of increasing quantity and FDG uptake of lymph nodes and a new lesion in liver after chemotherapy. Biopsy result was tuberculosis lympadenitis in lymph nodes and metastasis in liver. False positive results in FDG-PET studies should be kept in mind because tuberculosis is a common disease in Turkey. Biopsy should be done in atypical cases.