Predictive Factors of Early 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography Response to [131I] Metaiodobenzylguanidine Treatment for Unresectable or Metastatic Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas

Abstract

Introduction: Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumours that produce catecholamines. [¹³¹I] metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG)-avid unresectable or metastatic PPGLs are treated with [¹³¹I] MIBG radionuclide therapy. A high metabolic tumour volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) can be poor prognostic factors. Therefore, we evaluated the metabolic responses to [¹³¹I] MIBG therapy with respect to other clinical factors. Methods: A retrospective study was performed on a series of 20 patients who underwent FDG-PET before and after [¹³¹I] MIBG therapy. We administered a single dose comprising 5.5 GBq of [¹³¹I] MIBG (usually three times; for some cases, the number was increased or decreased considering treatment efficacy and side effects). Semi-quantitative parameters (SUVmax, MTV, and TLG) were calculated using the liver SUV (mean + 3 × standard deviation) as a threshold on Metavol software. The semi-quantitative FDG-PET parameters for determining response were complete response (CR), partial remission (PR), stable disease (SD), and progressive disease (PD). We divided our study participants into the PD and non-PD groups (i.e., SD + PR + CR) and compared the overall survival (OS) between the two groups. Subsequently, we evaluated the relationships between metabolic response and age, sex, tumour type, metastatic site, chemotherapy or external radiation history, and 24-h urine catecholamine levels by univariate logistic regression analyses. Results: Both MTV-based and TLG-based criteria for PD versus non-PD were significant prognostic factors (p = 0.014). However, treatment response as evaluated based on the SUVmax was not a significant predictor. Higher urinary dopamine levels were associated with poor metabolic response as assessed by MTV and TLG (OR 1.002, p = 0.029). The other clinical parameters were non-significant. Conclusion: Poor metabolic response (measured with MTV and TLG) to [¹³¹I] MIBG therapy in unresectable or metastatic PPGLs was related to shorter OS. The poor metabolic response can be predicted using the urinary dopamine level.