ABSTRACT
Background: Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most prevalent cancer in world, and represents the fourth cause of cancer death. It has a five year-survival of 5%. Aim: To assess the prognostic value of PET/CT in pancreatic cancer. Material and Methods: Sixty-nine patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who underwent staging 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT between December 2008 and July 2016 were selected. Gender, age, body-mass index, laboratory tests (Ca 19-9, hemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, liver enzymes, lactate dehydrogenase), histological differentiation of tumor, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, size and 18F-FDG uptake (maximal stan-dardized uptake value [SUVmax]) of the primary tumor, nodal involvement and distant metastasis detected by PET/CT were registered. Survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves, Log Rank test and Cox multivariable analysis. Results: Mortality was 66.7%, during a mean observation time of 18 months (range 20 days-66 months). Curative surgery, lack of metastases detected by PET/CT, histologically well differentiated tumors, and SUVmax ≤ 4.3 were significantly associated with a better specific survival, determined by the Log Rank test. Histological differentiation was the only variable that had a statistically significant prognostic value in the multivariable analysis. Conclusions: The detection of distant metastases and the intensity of primary tumor 18F-FDG uptake during PET/CT provide useful prognostic information in pancreatic cancer patients.