Determination of the prognostic value of [F]fluorodeoxyglucose uptake by using positron emission tomography in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

The aim of this study was to determine whether quantitative information obtained from [F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (F-FDG PET) has a prognostic significance for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We investigated F-FDG PET imaging of 73 patients with NSCLC. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUV^max) was significantly different between the histopathological types of tumour (squamous cell carcinoma (n = 37, 12.4±5.1), adenocarcinoma (n = 30, 8.2±5.8), bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (n = 4, 2.6±1.7), P<0.01). In the univariate analysis of all patients, staging (P = 0.0001), tumour cell type (P = 0.013), and a SUV^max greater than 7 (P = 0.0011) was correlated with survival. However, a multivariate analysis identified staging and SUV^max greater than 7 were affected survival adversely. The mortality rate of patients with group I disease (stage I to stage IIIA) was 5.8 times lower than that of patients with group II disease (stage IIIB to stage IV). Patients with a high SUV^max (⩾7) had a 6.3 times higher mortality than those with a low SUV^max (<7). By multivariate analysis of patients with squamous cell carcinoma, only grouping affected survival (P = 0.008, relative risk = 4.3). In the case of adenocarcinoma, the SUV^max (>10) correlated exclusively with poorer survival (P = 0.031, relative risk = 11.152). F-FDG uptake correlated with survival in NSCLC. Especially in adenocarcinomas, the SUV^max was complementary to other known prognostic factors.