Clinical Correlation of Maximum Standardised Uptake Value (SUVmax) in Positron Emission Tomography- Computed Tomography (PET-CT) with Initial Disease Staging of Carcinoma Breast- An Observational Study at Indian Tertiary Care Centre

The most common primary malignant disease in the world amongst women is carcinoma breast. Metabolic activity of a lesion (SUVmax) has strong clinical correlation with various prognostic factors according to numerous literature reviews. The main aim of this study is to assess the correlation between maximum Standardized Uptake Value [SUVmax] and initial disease staging (as per AJCC TNM-8th edition). We wanted to study the correlation between metabolic activity [SUVmax] of the primary tumour in breast carcinoma, and size of the primary, nodal and distant metastatic status.METHODSThis is an observational study conducted over a period of two years in breast cancer patients [n=139] undergoing PET-CT as a part of initial staging. PET-CT was done using Siemens Horizon True-V PET according to institutional protocols.RESULTSSignificantly higher SUVmax values were observed in tumours with larger size [>2 cms]. However, there was no significant correlation between SUVmax of primary tumours and the status of axillary nodal involvement and distant metastases [p = 0.125 and 0.847 respectively].CONCLUSIONSMetabolic activity of primary breast cancer has strong clinical correlation with size; however, there is no such correlation found in nodal and metastatic spread of the disease.