title: Prognostic significance of standardized uptake value and metabolic tumour volume on ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Standardized uptake value (SUV) and metabolic tumour volume (MTV) measured by (18)F-FDG PET/CT are emerging prognostic biomarkers in human solid cancers. However, their prognostic significance in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has been investigated in only a few studies and with small cohorts. In the present study we evaluated the ability of SUV, MTV, and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) measured on pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT to predict recurrence and survival outcomes in OPSCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 221 patients with OPSCC who underwent pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT imaging and received definitive treatment at our tertiary referral centre. The PET imaging parameters SUVmax, SUVpeak, MTV and TLG were measured in primary tumours with focal (18)F-FDG uptake. Clinical and imaging variables significantly associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were identified by univariate and multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazards model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall 5-year OS and DFS rates were 72.0 % and 79.5 %, respectively, during a median follow-up of 61 months (range 18 - 122 months). The cut-off values of tumour SUVmax, SUVpeak, MTV and TLG for prediction of DFS were 7.55, 6.80, 11.06 mL and 78.56 g, respectively. Univariate analyses showed that age >60 years, advanced tumour stage, and high tumour SUVmax, SUVpeak, MTV and TLG were significantly associated with decreased OS and DFS (P < 0.05 each). Age, tumour SUVmax and MTV remained independent variables for OS and DFS (P < 0.05 each) in the multivariate analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SUVmax and MTV measured on pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT may be useful in predicting the clinical outcomes in OPSCC patients. This study investigated the clinical prognostic value of imaging parameters from pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT in 221 patients who underwent definitive treatment for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. High maximum standardized uptake value and metabolic tumour volume were independently associated with decreased disease-free and overall survival outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Centre, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 138-736, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jungsu S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Jong-Lyel
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.forename: Jae Seung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Soon Yuhl
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Sang Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001692:Biological Transport; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18