title: Prognostic significance of parameters from pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET in hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prognostic value of (18)F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains inconclusive. This study aims to investigate the prognostic role of pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET on HCC patients by meta-analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Wanfang databases were searched until June 2015. Hazard ratios (HRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were synthesized by Stata 10.0, and the combined results were used as effective values.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-two studies containing a total of 1721 patients were identified. According to random-effect model, meta-analysis results showed that high Tumor SUV/Liver SUV (Tsuv/Lsuv) ratio was significantly associated with poorer overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.04; 95% CI 1.50-2.79; P = 0.000) and poorer disease-free survival (HR = 7.17; 95% CI 3.58-14.36; P = 0.000); and high Tumor SUV (Tsuv) value was also correlated with poor OS (HR = 1.53; 95% CI 1.26-1.87; P = 0.000). Meanwhile, subgroup analysis results showed that the significant association above was not altered by study sample size, parameter cutoff value, analytic method, and follow-up period, but there was no significant association between Tsuv/Lsuv ratio and OS in patients who underwent resection (HR = 1.71; 95% CI 1.00-2.92; P = 0.052).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both high Tsuv/Lsuv ratio and high Tsuv value are associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients. Therefore, pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET is a useful tool in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients. More studies with explicit treatment modalities are required to investigate the prognostic value of pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET on HCC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Da-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130033, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ju
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Chuan-Lei
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Teng-Fei
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China. lvguoyue@sina.com.
authors.forename: Guo-Yue
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Lv
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: 18F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET); Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); Meta-analysis; Prognosis; Tumor SUV (Tsuv); Tumor SUV/Liver SUV (Tsuv/Lsuv)