[Feasibility study of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in proposing selection criteria for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in liver transplantation].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the feasibility of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in proposing selection criteria for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in liver transplantation.


METHODS
We respectively analyzed 31 cases of HCC patients from our hospital and those accepting no anti-tumor therapy or orthotopic liver transplantation before ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT examination. The T/B value was set as a semi-quantitative parameter reflecting the metabolic activities of tumors. And receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to determine the optimal cutoff value of T/B affecting HCC recurrence after transplantation. Their clinicopathological features were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the risk factors for HCC recurrence after transplantation.


RESULTS
During the follow-up period, the total incidence of tumor recurrence or metastasis was 51.6%. And the disease-free survival rates of 6 months, 1 year and 2 years post-transplantation were 93.5%, 67.7% and 46.8% respectively. The univariate analysis revealed 4 variables of affecting the recurrence or metastasis of HCC after transplantation, namely T/B value, tumor size, tumor number and preoperative alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level. While multivariate analyses indicated that T/B value and tumor size were independent factors.


CONCLUSIONS
T/B value, tumor number and preoperative AFP level were independent risk factors for tumor recurrence. As a prognostic indicator of tumor biological behavior, ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT can identify the eligible transplant HCC candidates.
Department of Nuclear Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Zeqing
Z
Xu
Department of Nuclear Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Linqi
L
Zhang
Department of Nuclear Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Xiaoyan
X
Wang
Department of Nuclear Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China. Email: sd_zh@163.net.
Xiangsong
X
Zhang
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D018579:Patient Selection; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012372:ROC Curve; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins
D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18