The Role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in Predicting the Neoadjuvant Treatment Response in Patients with Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

Purpose: Patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC), should be treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Pathological complete response (pCR) is related to better disease-free survival (DFS). The best strategy for assessing the efficacy of NAC has not been established yet, but several studies have shown that 18F-FDG PET/CT is a potential imaging tool for assessing pCR. The aim of this study is to investigate the merits of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in predicting pCR in both axillary and breast tissue and to establish a threshold maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) for predicting the response after completion of NAC. Methods: A total of 186 LACB patients, treated with an NAC regimen according to tumor subtype, were retrospectively analyzed in this study. All patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging before and after completion of NAC. PET parameters were measured in the most FDG avid breast tissue and axillary lymph nodes. We analyzed the correlation between the tumor SUV max value of the PET/CT response and the pCR after surgery. DFS was also evaluated with respect to pCR. Results: Higher pCR rates were significantly associated with a higher tumor grade, an initial Ki-67 ≥ 20% (p=0.03 and p=0.003, respectively), a triple-negative subtype (32.9%), and a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2)-positive subtype (24.7%) (p
Source: Breast Care - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research