[Positron emission tomography with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose is useful for predicting the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is heterogenous in terms of its glucose metabolism. Positron emission tomography with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) shows various levels of FDG uptake for patients with HCC. This study was designed to assess the usefulness of FDG-PET for predicting the outcome of the patients with HCC.


METHODS
FDG-PET was performed for 27 patients with HCC. The standardized uptake value (SUV) and SUV ratio (defined as the tumor-to-nontumor ratio of SUV) was calculated for each patient. The clinical factors of the outcome were analyzed by regression analysis using Cox's multivariate proportional hazard model. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method.


RESULTS
Among the analyzed clinical factors including tumor size, number of tumors, AFP, involvement of major vessels, presence of systemic metastases, Child-Pugh class the SUV and SUV ratio, only the SUV was the only significant independent prognostic factor (p=0.001). On the basis of the SUV, the patients were divided into two groups of roughly equal size: group A, SUV of <7; group B, SUV > or =7. The cumulative survival rate was significantly lower for group B than for group A, and the median survival time was significantly different (4 months vs 15 months, respectively) (p=0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that FDG-PET is useful to predict the outcome for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Kong
Yun Ho
YH
Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, Korea.
Han
Chul Ju
CJ
Lee
Sang Dae
SD
Sohn
Wee Sik
WS
Kim
Min Jae
MJ
Ki
Seung Seog
SS
Kim
Jin
J
Jeong
Sook Hyang
SH
Kim
You Cheoul
YC
Lee
Jhin Oh
JO
Cheon
Gi Jeong
GJ
Choi
Chang Woon
CW
Lim
Sang Moo
SM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015996:Survival Rate
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18