title: Prognostic Value of SUVmax Measured by Fluorine-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography with Computed Tomography in Patients with Gallbladder Cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to investigate the prognostic value of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in gallbladder cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  From June 2004 to June 2010, a total of 50 patients with gallbladder cancer who underwent diagnostic staging with F-18 FDG PET/CT following curative or palliative treatments were retrospectively evaluated. For the analysis, all patients were classified by age, sex, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), lymph node (LN) or distant metastasis, serum level of CA19-9 and CEA, type of treatment and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median survival for the 50 patients was 245 days and the median SUVmax in PET/CT was 8.3 (range, 0-19.7). Patients with SUVmax < 6 survived significantly longer than patients with SUVmax ≥ 6 (median 405 days vs 203 days, p = 0.0400). On Kaplan-Meier analysis, SUVmax (p = 0.0400), stage (p = 0.0001), CA19-9 (p = 0.013), CEA (p = 0.006), LN metastasis (p = 0.0001), distant metastasis (p = 0.0020), type of treatment (p = 0.0001) were significantly associated with overall survival. Multivariate analysis study revealed that the patients with lower SUVmax measured from initial staging PET/CT (p = 0.0380), no LN metastasis (p = 0.0260), a lower stage (p = 0.026) and curative treatment (p = 0.0005) had longer survivals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study shows that SUVmax on F-18 FDG PET/CT can provide prognostic information in patients with gallbladder cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), 75 Nowongil, Nowon Gu, Seoul 139-706 Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Pil
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), 75 Nowongil, Nowon Gu, Seoul 139-706 Republic of Korea ; Molecular Imaging Research Center, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Nowon Gu, Seoul Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ilhan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Nowon Gu, Seoul Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Im Ii
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Na
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Nowon Gu, Seoul Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eung Ho
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), 75 Nowongil, Nowon Gu, Seoul 139-706 Republic of Korea ; Molecular Imaging Research Center, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Nowon Gu, Seoul Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Ii
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), 75 Nowongil, Nowon Gu, Seoul 139-706 Republic of Korea ; Molecular Imaging Research Center, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Nowon Gu, Seoul Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Woon
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), 75 Nowongil, Nowon Gu, Seoul 139-706 Republic of Korea ; Molecular Imaging Research Center, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences (KIRAMS), Nowon Gu, Seoul Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Moo
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lim
keywords: FDG; Gallbladder cancer; PET; Survival