The value of 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters in predicting the molecular phenotype of breast cancer / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To analyze the correlation between metabolic parameters of 18F-deoxyglucose-labeledpositron emission tomography/computed tomography（18F-FDG PET/CT） scan and the immunohistochemistry （IHC） expression in patients with primary breast cancer so as to explore the predictive value of the metabolic parameters for molecular subtypes. 【Methods】 We retrospectively recruited 97 patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scan from November 2016 to June 2020 with breast cancer. The clinical stages （Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ） and menstrual status （pre-menopause or menopause） were collected. Metabolic parameters， including the maximum standardized uptake value （SUVmax）， mean standardized uptake value （SUVmean）， metabolic tumor volume （MTV） and total lesion glycolysis （TLG） of the primary tumor， were calculated by physician according to the 40% SUVmax principle. The IHC expressions （positive or negative） of the estrogen receptor （ER）， progesterone receptor （PR）， human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 （HER2）， proliferating cell nuclear antigen （Ki-67） and p53； the ipsilateral axillary lymph node metastasis （with or without）， and the molecular subtypes （Luminal A， Luminal B， HER2 overexpression， and triple negative） were determined by an experienced pathologist. The correlations between the metabolic parameters and IHC expression were analyzed by Pearson test or Spearman test， and were further stratified by different menstrual status and ipsilateral axillary lymph node metastasis. Finally， we analyzed metabolic parameters among different molecular subtypes. 【Results】 For all the patients， SUVmax and SUVmean had significantly negative correlation with ER and PR expressions （P<0.05）； SUVmax， SUVmean， and TLG were significantly positively correlated with Ki-67 expression （P<0.05）. SUVmax， SUVmean， and TLG of premenopausal patients （n=57） were negatively correlated with ER and PR expressions （P<0.05）， but positively correlated with Ki-67 expression （P<0.05）. MTV， TLG and PR expressions in postmenopausal patients （n=40） were positively correlated （P<0.05）. In patients with （n=27） or without （n=57） ipsilateral axillary lymph node metastasis， Ki-67 was negatively correlated with SUVmax and SUVmean （P<0.05）； in patients without ipsilateral axillary lymph node metastasis， SUVmax， SUVmean， and TLG were negatively correlated with PR （P<0.05）. Among different molecular types， SUVmax of HER2 overexpression was significantly higher than that of Luminal A （P<0.05）. 【Conclusion】 The 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters of breast cancer patients have a good correlation with the expression of immunohistochemistry， and SUVmax has predictive value for the expression of hetergeneous molecular types.