FDG-PET/CT-based restaging may alter initial management decisions and clinical outcomes in patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma planned to undergo chemoradiotherapy

Abstract

The impact of [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) restaging on management decisions and outcomes in patients with locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma (LAPC) scheduled for concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is examined. Seventy-one consecutive patients with conventionally staged LAPC were restaged with PET/CT before CRT, and were categorized into non-metastatic (M0) and metastatic (M1) groups. M0 patients received 50.4 Gy CRT with 5-fluorouracil followed by maintenance gemcitabine, whereas M1 patients received chemotherapy immediately or after palliative radiotherapy. In 19 patients (26.8%), PET/CT restaging showed distant metastases not detected by conventional staging. PET/CT restaging of M0 patients showed additional regional lymph nodes in 3 patients and tumors larger than CT-defined borders in 4. PET/CT therefore altered or revised initial management decisions in 26 (36.6%) patients. At median follow-up times of 11.3, 14.5, and 6.2 months for the entire cohort and the M0 and M1 cohorts, respectively, median overall survival was 16.1, 11.4, and 6.2 months, respectively; median locoregional progression-free survival was 9.9, 7.8, and 3.4 months, respectively; and median progression-free survival was 7.4, 5.1, and 2.5 months, respectively (P < 0.05 each). These findings suggest that PET/CT-based restaging may help select patients suitable for CRT, sparing those with metastases from futile radical protocols, and increasing the accuracy of estimated survival.