title: Prediction of 2 years-survival in patients with stage I and II non-small cell lung cancer utilizing (18)F-FDG PET/CT SUV quantification.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of the study was to evaluate the correlation between the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), size of primary lung lesion, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with stage I and II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 2 years follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-nine patients with stage I-II NSCLC were included in this study. Pre-surgical 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron-emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) study was performed for all patients. The relationship between SUVmax, tumour size and clinical outcome was measured. The cut-off value for SUVmax and tumour size with the best prognostic significance, probability of DFS and the correlation between SUVmax and the response to therapy were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a statistically significant correlation between SUVmax and DFS (p = 0.029). The optimal cut-offs were 9.00 for SUVmax (p = 0.0013) and 30mm for tumour size (p = 0.0028). Patients with SUVmax > 9 and primary lesion size > 30 mm had an expected 2years-DFS of 37.5%, while this rose to 90% if the tumour was <30 mm and/or SUVmax was <9.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In stage I-II, SUVmax and tumour size might be helpful to identify the subgroup of patients with high chance for recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Positron Emission Tomography Centre IRMET S.p.A., Euromedic inc., Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cistaro
authors.forename: Natale
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Quartuccio
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mojtahedi
authors.forename: Piercarlo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fania
authors.forename: Pier Luigi
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Filosso
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campenni
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ficola
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baldari
keywords: 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography; disease-free survival; maximum standardized uptake value; non-small cell lung cancer; overall survival