Pretreatment maximum standardized uptake value on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography is a predictor of outcome for stage I non-small cell lung cancer after stereotactic body radiotherapy

Purpose To study whether changes of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) during treatment correlate with post-treatment responses in tumor and normal lung in patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and Methods Patients with stage I to III NSCLC requiring a definitive dose of fractionated radiation therapy (RT) were eligible. FDG-PET/computed tomography scans were acquired before, during, and after RT. Tumor and lung metabolic responses were assessed qualitatively by physicians and quantitatively by normalized peak FDG activity (the ratio of the maximum FDG activity divided by the mean of the aortic arch background). Results The study reached the goal of recruiting 15 patients between February 2004 and August 2005. Of these, 11 patients had partial metabolic response, two patients had complete metabolic response, and two patients had stable disease at approximately 45 Gy during RT. The mean peak tumor FDG activity was 5.2 (95% CI, 4.0 to 6.4), 2.5 (95% CI, 2.0 to 3.0), and 1.7 (95% CI, 1.3 to 2.0) on pre-, during, and post-RT scans, respectively. None of the patients had appreciable changes in the lung during RT. The peak FDG activity of the lung was 0.47 (95% CI, 0.36 to 0.59), 0.52 (95% CI, 0.40 to 0.64), and 1.29 (95% CI, 0.82 to 1.76), on pre-, during-, and post-RT scans, respectively. The qualitative response during RT correlated with the overall response post-RT (P = .03); the peak tumor FDG activity during RT correlated with those 3 months post-RT (R2 = 0.7; P < .001). Conclusion This pilot study suggests a significant correlation in tumor metabolic response and no association in lung FDG activity between during RT scans and 3 months post-RT scans in patients with NSCLC. Additional study with a large number of patients is needed to validate these findings.

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Prediction of Survival by [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in Patients With Locally Advanced Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer Undergoing Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy: Results of the ACRIN 6668/RTOG 0235 Trial

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2012.47.5947 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 31 (30) ◽

pp. 3823-3830 ◽

Cited By ~ 105

Author(s):

Mitchell Machtay ◽

Fenghai Duan ◽

Barry A. Siegel ◽

Bradley S. Snyder ◽

Jeremy J. Gorelick ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Cancer ◽

Positron Emission Tomography ◽

Small Cell ◽

Post Treatment ◽

Emission Tomography ◽

Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography ◽

Multivariate Models ◽

Small Cell Lung ◽

Positron Emission ◽

Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission

Purpose In this prospective National Cancer Institute–funded American College of Radiology Imaging Network/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group cooperative group trial, we hypothesized that standardized uptake value (SUV) on post-treatment [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) correlates with survival in stage III non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and Methods Patients received conventional concurrent platinum-based chemoradiotherapy without surgery; postradiotherapy consolidation chemotherapy was allowed. Post-treatment FDG-PET was performed at approximately 14 weeks after radiotherapy. SUVs were analyzed both as peak SUV (SUVpeak) and maximum SUV (SUVmax; both institutional and central review readings), with institutional SUVpeak as the primary end point. Relationships between the continuous and categorical (cutoff) SUVs and survival were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards multivariate models. Results Of 250 enrolled patients (226 were evaluable for pretreatment SUV), 173 patients were evaluable for post-treatment SUV analyses. The 2-year survival rate for the entire population was 42.5%. Pretreatment SUVpeak and SUVmax (mean, 10.3 and 13.1, respectively) were not associated with survival. Mean post-treatment SUVpeak and SUVmax were 3.2 and 4.0, respectively. Post-treatment SUVpeak was associated with survival in a continuous variable model (hazard ratio, 1.087; 95% CI, 1.014 to 1.166; P = .020). When analyzed as a prespecified binary value (≤ v > 3.5), there was no association with survival. However, in exploratory analyses, significant results for survival were found using an SUVpeak cutoff of 5.0 (P = .041) or 7.0 (P < .001). All results were similar when SUVmax was used in univariate and multivariate models in place of SUVpeak. Conclusion Higher post-treatment tumor SUV (SUVpeak or SUVmax) is associated with worse survival in stage III NSCLC, although a clear cutoff value for routine clinical use as a prognostic factor is uncertain at this time.

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