title: Glucose metabolism and pathological findings in uveal melanoma: preliminary results.
abstract: The aims of this study were to assess the sensitivity of positron emission tomography (PET) using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) in the detection of uveal melanoma, and to establish the relationship between pre-operative 18F-FDG uptake and a number of pathological features of uveal melanoma. Twenty consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of uveal melanoma were enrolled in the study. 18F-FDG uptake was assessed in all subjects and the following parameters were assessed in 11 enucleated subjects: the mitotic index, the MIB-1 proliferating cell index, number of epithelioid cells, largest tumour diameter, tumoral necrosis and inflammatory infiltration. Tumours with a diameter less than 7.5 mm were not detected by PET, possibly because of limited spatial resolution, and only 7 of 12 tumours with a diameter greater than 7.5 mm were detected. With tumours greater than 7.5 mm in diameter, PET and 18F-FDG allow two subgroups to be distinguished: those with high and those with low glucose consumption. Apart from tumour size, 18F-FDG uptake was not related to the pathological features examined. We hypothesize that 18F-FDG uptake may be related to the ratio of viable to non-viable cells, or to the hypoxic cell fraction within the tumour.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Istituto Scientifico H. San Raffaele, University of Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Modorati
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lucignani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Landoni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Freschi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trabucchi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fazio
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brancato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002455:Cell Division; D003847:Deoxyglucose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014604:Uveal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D003847:Deoxyglucose; D005947:Glucose