Influence of Biological Parameters Assessed in [18F]FDG PET/CT on Overall Survival in Cervical Cancer Patients

Aim The aim of this study was to estimate the influence of biological parameters assessed in [18F]FDG PET/CT on overall survival (OS) in cervical cancer patients. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed on a group of 371 patients with newly diagnosed and histologically confirmed cervical cancer. PET biological parameters in primary tumor including SUVmax, SUVmean, total lesion glycolysis (TLG), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), heterogeneity, and parameters referring both to primary tumor and metastatic lesions: SUVtotal, TLGtotal, and MTVtotal, were analyzed. Results Based on PET/CT results, 3 subgroups were identified: cervical only—with disease limited only to the cervix (38%), +regional nodes—where increased glucose accumulation in addition to the cervical area was also observed in regional lymph nodes (36%), and +distal metastases—where PET scan showed a disseminated disease (26%). Depending on the stage of the disease, in the cervical-only group, 5-year survival rate was 86%; in the +regional nodes group, it was 80%; whereas in the +distal metastases group, 5-year survival rate was only 55%. However, based on Cox regression model, significant influence on OS was found only in heterogeneity of primary tumor; more inhomogeneous tumors suggest worse prognosis (0.25 ± 0.04 vs 0.16 ± 0.09, P
Source: Clinical Nuclear Medicine - Category: Nuclear Medicine Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research