The Relationship between Preoperative FDG PET/CT Uptake and Survival in Patients with Lung Cancer

Abstract

IntroductionDespite all advances in diagnosis and treatment, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both sexes worldwide. Because of the different survival rates in lung cancer, additional factors are needed to determine prognosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between survival and clinical data of primary tumor SUV (Standardized Uptake Value) to evaluate the role of FDG-PET ([18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose Positron Emission Tomography) as a prognostic factor in lung cancer.Material and methodsThe data of patients who underwent anatomic resection and preoperative positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) were performed retrospectively between February 2006 and October 2019 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep University.ResultsAll cases were 666 patients, 64 of whom (9.6%) were females and 602 of them (90.4%) were males. The mean age of the patients was 61.91±9.6 years. Histologically, there were 369 (55.4%) epidermoid carcinomas, 233 (34.9%) adenocarcinomas. The overall mean survival was 68.2 months and the median survival was 63.6 months. The mean mass SUV values of the patients were 13.73 ± 6.65. The effect of histological type, TNM stage, metastasis and recurrence on survival was statistically significant (p < 0.05). According to the univariate analysis (Cox regression analysis), it was found that 1 unit increase in SUV value contributed to a statistically significant increase in mortality risk (p = 0.002, HR: 1.024, 95% CI: 1.009-1.040).ConclusionsIn our study on 666 patients, unlike literature, no statistically significant relationship was found between SUV value and survival.