Gastric cancers with microsatellite instability exhibit high fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography.
BACKGROUND
Gastric cancers exhibit various degrees of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptakes on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether FDG uptake in gastric cancer varies according to the microsatellite instability (MSI) status.


METHODS
Consecutive gastric cancer patients who underwent PET/CT imaging and MSI analysis were included in the study. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of gastric cancer was assessed using PET/CT imaging.


RESULTS
Of 131 gastric cancers, 16 exhibited a high incidence of MSI (MSI-H) and 3 exhibited a low incidence of MSI (MSI-L). In 29 subjects who showed no uptake on PET/CT imaging the gastric cancers were all microsatellite stable (MSS). Gastric cancers with MSI were related to age older than 60 years (p = 0.002), cancer volume larger than 10 cm(3) (p = 0.015), and the presence of FDG uptake on PET/CT imaging (p = 0.001). A higher SUVmax of gastric cancer was linked to the presence of MSI (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of MSI is related to FDG uptake in gastric cancer. Care should be taken with MSS gastric cancers, because they show lower SUVmax on PET/CT imaging than MSI gastric cancers.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Hyun Woo
HW
Chung
Sun-Young
SY
Lee
Hye Seung
HS
Han
Hyun Sik
HS
Park
Jae Hoon
JH
Yang
Hak Hyun
HH
Lee
Young
Y
So
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053842:Microsatellite Instability; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18