{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T09:04:42Z","timestamp":1780304682229,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780012800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: In oncologic patients, hypermetabolic neck lesions identified on F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography\/computed tomography (PET\/CT) are often assumed to indicate nodal metastasis, especially in advanced disease. However, benign tumors such as schwannomas can also demonstrate avid F-18 FDG uptake, potentially leading to false-positive nodal staging and unwarranted assumptions of metastatic disease. Case Presentation: An 85-year-old woman with advanced uterine cervical cancer (FIGO stage IIB) underwent F-18 FDG PET\/CT for staging purposes. Alongside intense uptake in the primary tumor, a hypermetabolic mass was incidentally identified in the left neck, raising concerns about nodal metastasis. Further imaging, including MRI and high-resolution ultrasonography (US), suggested a non-nodal origin, and US-guided core needle biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of a schwannoma, with histopathologic examination demonstrating characteristic Antoni A and B areas with diffuse S-100 positivity. Because the patient was elderly and repeatedly declined aggressive treatment, management was ultimately limited to symptom-directed palliative radiotherapy. Although tissue confirmation did not directly alter the delivered treatment strategy, it clarified the staging and prevented the neck lesion from being misclassified as metastatic disease. Conclusions: This case underscores that not all hypermetabolic neck lesions detected on F-18 FDG PET\/CT in oncologic patients indicate metastatic lymphadenopathy. A multimodal imaging approach combined with minimally invasive tissue sampling can provide critical diagnostic clarification, particularly when PET\/CT findings might otherwise lead to unsupported nodal upstaging or misguided assumptions in treatment planning.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16111686","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T15:57:18Z","timestamp":1780070238000},"page":"1686","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Schwannoma Mimicking Neck Nodal Metastasis on F-18 FDG PET\/CT in Cervical Cancer: A Case Report with a Multimodal Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6969-3728","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seokho","family":"Yoon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine and Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, Changwon 51472, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7349-2841","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hye Jin","family":"Baek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine, 20 Geumo-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si 50612, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7131-351X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bonghoi","family":"Choi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine and Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju 52727, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2068-8370","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyo Jung","family":"An","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan 47392, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fischerova, D., Fr\u00fchauf, F., Burgetova, A., Haldorsen, I.S., Gatti, E., and Cibula, D. 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