Association of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging metabolic parameters with tumour size in breast carcinoma

Abstract

Tumour size is a well-known independent prognostic factor that plays an important role in the management and diagnosis of cancer. 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) has been widely used in oncology which their metabolic parameters including maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and metabolic tumour volume (MTV) are important PET indexes to signify the degree of tumour aggressiveness. The correlation of SUVmax with tumour size has been widely reported in the literatures, however such correlation with MTV was not well reported. This study aims to evaluate the association between tumour size and PET/CT metabolic parameters in breast carcinoma. PET/CT images of breast cancer patients (n = 10) who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT examination for staging were reviewed. The patients were histopathologically confirmed with breast carcinoma. PET/CT derived metabolic parameters (SUVmax and MTV) of the primary breast carcinoma lesions (n=15) were quantified. The parameters were associated with the tumour size of the primary lesions using Spearman Rho Correlation. All the metabolic parameters have positive statistically significant association with tumour size where SUVmax (p < 0.001, r = 0.817) and MTV (p < 0.001, r = 0.954). 18F-FDG PET/CT-derived metabolic parameters (SUVmax and MTV) are valuable imaging markers associating with tumour size of the breast lesions in which better association is demonstrated in volume based metabolic parameter (MTV) as compared to SUVmax. Therefore, both parameters have prognostic value for the evaluation of breast carcinoma.