Impact of initial PET/CT staging in terms of clinical stage, management plan, and prognosis in 592 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to determine the impact of initial (18)F-FDG PET/CT (PET/CT) staging on clinical stage and the management plan and the prognostic value of PET/CT in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the records of 592 patients with NSCLC who were referred to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center during 2002/2011 and had both PET/CT and conventional CT for initial staging. Clinical stages and management plans were compared between PET/CT and CT. The impact of PET/CT on management plans was considered medium/high when PET/CT changed the planned treatment modality or treatment intent. PET/CT and CT stages were compared with all-cause mortality and survival rates. We also assessed potential prognostic factors for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).


RESULTS
PET/CT changed the stage in 170 patients (28.7 %; 16.4 % upstaged, 12.3 % downstaged). PET/CT had a medium/high impact on the management plan in 220 patients (37.2 %). PFS and OS were significantly worse in patients with upstaged disease than in patients with no change in stage (median PFS 29.0 vs. 53.8 months, P < 0.001; median OS:64.7 vs. 115.9 months, P = 0.006). PFS and OS were significantly worse in patients with medium/high impact of PET/CT than in patients with no/low impact of PET/CT (median PFS 24.7 vs. 60.6 months, P < 0.001; median OS 64.7 vs. 115.9 months, P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, a medium/high impact of PET/CT was an independent predictor of worse PFS (hazard ratio, HR, 1.73; 95 % CI 1.30 - 2.29; P = 0.0002) and OS (HR 1.84; 95 % CI 1.26 - 2.69; P = 0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
Initial PET/CT staging not only impacts stage and management plan but also has prognostic value.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Unit 1483, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA, STakeuchi@mdanderson.org.
Satoshi
S
Takeuchi
Benjapa
B
Khiewvan
Patricia S
PS
Fox
Stephen G
SG
Swisher
Eric M
EM
Rohren
Roland L
RL
Bassett
Homer A
HA
Macapinlac
D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed