The Relatıonshıp Between 18 Fdg Pet / Ct Parameters And Clınıcal Stage In Patıents Wıth Lung Cancer

Aim: It was aimed to investigate  the relationship of disease clinical stage between the maximum diameter of primer lesion (LEGÇ), maximum of standardized uptake value (SUVmax), mean of standardized uptake value (SUVmean), tumor volüme (TV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) values derived from positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) images.

Method: The information of 130 lung cancer patients diagnosed histopathologically between 01.01.2012 and 31.12.2014 in Necmettin Erbakan University Nuclear Medicine Department of Meram Medical Faculty scanned for PET-CT for lung cancer diagnosis and staging,  were included in this study. The values of the maximum diameter of primer lesion, SUVmax, SUVmean, TLG and MTV derived from PET-CT scanning and their histopathological subtypes, other clinical and radyological information of patients were noted. The non-small cell lung cancer patients were graded according to tumor diameter, nodal and involvement metastasis (TNM) staging system using clinical information, PET-CT and other radyological test results if any. On the other hand, the small cell carcinoma diagnosed were categorised as limited or extensive stage.

Findings: In this study, the mean age of 118 men and 12 women,  totally 130 patients, was evaluated  63,46 ±9,96 ( range 40-87 age ). The patients were classified as 106 non-small cell lung Cancer (NSCLC) (81.5%) ve 24 small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (18.5%).  The  histopathologically diagnosed NSCLC patients were consists of  62 squamous cell cancers, 39 adeno cancers, and 5  other types (3 carcinoid tumors, 1 large cell cancer and 1 sarcomatoid tumor). 

Results: In our study, it was observed that there was no significant relationship between the maximum diameter of the lesion, SUVmax, SUVmean, MTV and TLG values among SCLC and NSCLC patients. Additionally, it was also found that there was no correlation between these parameters and the SCLC stage.  The maximum diameter of the lesion, SUVmax, SUVmean, MTV and TLG parameters were related with stage.

Conclusion: Higher SUVmax, SUVmean, TV, and TLG values of the primary tumor were determined to predict the more advanced clinical stage in NSCLC. This relationship between metabolic parameters and the clinical stage suggest that PET / CT may be valuable in terms of providing prognostic information in NSCLC.