Prognostic significance of the maximal value of the baseline standardized uptake value on fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography for predicting pathologic malignancy of operable breast cancer.

Abstract

11111 Background: [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is potentially useful in predicting prognosis of breast cancer patients. Methods: 344 breast cancer patients (mean age: 58.0 ± 12.5) with clinical stage IxIII between January 2006 and December 2011, were prospectively evaluated (median follow-up period: 52.0 months). Patients underwent a whole-body FDG PET/CT before operation. The maximal value of the baseline standardized uptake values (SUVmax) were assessed for predicting disease free survival (DFS). For the evaluation of relationship between SUVmax values and prognostic factors such as hormone receptors, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), nuclear grade, lymph node metastasis and tumor size, statistical analyses were performed using Student t test and log-rank test, and p values of less than 0.05 were considered to indicate statistically significant differences. Results: Clinical stage included were I (n =194), II (n=134) and III (n=16). Tumors with estrogen receptor (ER) positive were 292 (84.9%) and negative were 52 (15.1%). Patients were divided into two groups according to cut-off SUVmax established on the basis of receiver operating characteristic analysis (≤3.0 vs >3.0, AUC=0.713). There was a significant difference in DFS between two groups (p=0.001) and, hormone receptor, HER2, nuclear grade, lymph node metastasis were found strong relation to SUVmax values. SUVmax and ER status were predictive factors with multivariable analysis using cox proportional hazard regression model (p=0.033 and p=0.004, respectively). Conclusions: SUVmax on FDG PET/CT before operation has a predictive value for high-grade malignancy and prognosis in operable breast cancer. [Table: see text]