title: Use of pre-treatment 18F-FAMT PET to predict patient survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus treated by curative surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  [18F]-3-fluoro-alpha-methyl tyrosine (18F-FAMT) as an amino acid tracer in positron emission tomography (PET) has been widely investigated in several tumor types. Herein we investigated the clinical significance of 18F-FAMT PET uptake as a prognostic marker together in our updated data of patients with esophageal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively assessed the treatment outcomes of 42 patients with histologically-confirmed esophageal cancer. The survival rate was analyzed using the median peak standardized uptake value (SUV) with 2.2 as the cut-off value.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FAMT uptakes were significantly correlated with factors reflecting tumor progression. Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between FAMT uptake and disease-free survival (p=0.023). Moreover, on evaluation of individual lymph node groups, the specificity and positive predictive value were significantly higher for 18F-FAMT-PET than for 18F-FDG-PET and computed tomography (CT).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  18F-FAMT is an important pre-treatment diagnostic modality and its accumulation is a good predictor of disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with operable esophageal cancer.
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan msohda@med.gunma-u.ac.jp.
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Sohda
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Sakai
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Hiroaki
authors: H
authors: Honjyo
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Keigo
authors: K
authors: Hara
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Daigo
authors: D
authors: Ozawa
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Shigemasa
authors: S
authors: Suzuki
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Naritaka
authors: N
authors: Tanaka
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Takehiko
authors: T
authors: Yokobori
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Tatsuya
authors: T
authors: Miyazaki
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Minoru
authors: M
authors: Fukuchi
authors: Depertment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Tetsuya
authors: T
authors: Higuchi
authors: Depertment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Yoshito
authors: Y
authors: Tsushima
authors: Depertment of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors: Hiroyuki
authors: H
authors: Kuwano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008781:Methyltyrosines / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: C105991:3-fluoro-alpha-methyltyrosine; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D008781:Methyltyrosines; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
keywords: 18F-FAMT PET; 18F-FDG-PET; specificity; survival