JNM: Dual-phase PET predicts prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma
Dual-phase 18F-FDG PET with measurement of the percentage maximal standardized uptake values (SUVmax) change may significantly affect the management of patients with lung adenocarcinoma and could be complementary to other well-known factors, according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Hongming Zhuang, MD, PhD, chief of nuclear medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues included 100 patients with histologically proven adenocarcinoma of the lung in the retrospective analysis.

All patients underwent dual-phase pretherapy 18F-FDG PET for which, after the intravenous administration of 18F-FDG, both early (60 minutes) and delayed (90 minutes) PET scans were performed. The percentage change in the SUVmax of the cancer between the early and the delayed images was calculated by the researchers.

Statistical analysis showed that SUVmax change over time between the early and the delayed PET was a strong independent predictor of outcome for lung adenocarcinoma and a cutoff of 25 percent change for SUVmax over time showed the best discriminative value, according to Zhuang and colleagues.

“Patients with more than 25 percent increase in SUVmax had a median survival of 15 months, compared with 39 months for those with less than 25 percent increase in SUVmax,” wrote Zhuang and colleagues.

The study suggested that the percentage SUVmax change over time is a strong prognostic factor in patients with lung adenocarcinoma and can be complementary to the other well-known factors, concluded Zhuang and colleagues.
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