Predictive Value of Preoperative Volume-Based 18F-2-Fluoro-2-Deoxy-d-Glucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Parameters in Patients with Resectable Lung Adenocarcinoma

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG), which are volume-based PET parameters, using ¹⁸F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) in patients with surgically resectable lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated 149 patients with lung adenocarcinoma who underwent ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT before surgical resection. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), MTV, and TLG of the primary tumor with threshold value of SUVmax 30, 40, and 50% were calculated, respectively. To compare the predictive performance of volume-based PET parameters, recurrence-free survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results

The study included 70 males and 79 females with an average age of 65.8 years. The median follow-up time was 45.4 months. Recurrence was observed in 53 patients (35.6%). The mean?±?SD SUVmax, MTV_30%, and TLG_30% of the entire cohort were 4.79?±?2.94, 19.45?±?24.85, and 56.43?±?101.88, respectively. The cut-off values of MTV_30% and TLG_30% for recurrence were 11.07 ad 30.56, respectively. The 1-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate was 96.5% in low-MTV_30% patients compared with 86.2% in high-MTV_30% patients (p?=?0.018) and 96.0% in low-TLG_30% patients compared with 88.5% in high-TLG_30% patients (p?30% (HR, 2.828, p?p?

Conclusion

TLG_30% value was observed to be a significant prognostic factor for RFS in patients with lung adenocarcinoma treated by surgical resection.