18F-FDG PET/CT in predicting tumor recurrence for hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation / 中华器官移植杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in predicting tumor recurrence for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation (LT).Method We respectively analyzed 52 patients with HCC who underwent the 18F-FDG PET/CT examination before LT.In terms of tumor recurrence,all patients were divided into recurrence group and non-recurrence group.According to the degree of 18F-FDG uptake,all patients were divided into PET(-) group and PET (+) group.The SUVmax of primary tumor/the SUVmax of normal-liver background (T/B) was calculated by 18F FDG PET/CT.All patients were then divided into T/B≤1.15 group and T/B＞1.15 group.Result During the follow-up period,25 out of 52 patients (48.1％) developed posttransplant HCC recurrence and 27 (51.9％) had no recurrence.T/B of patients with recurrence (2.51 ± 0.95) was significantly higher than that of patients with non-recurrence (1.37 ± 0.46),t =4.12,P＜0.001.The disease-free survival rate of 0.5 year,1 year,2 years and 3 years after LT in PET(-) group and PET(+) group was 100.0％,92.3％,92.3％ and 92.3％,and 89.7％,59.0％,43.6％ and 35.7％ respectively.Log-rank test revealed that disease-free survival rate in PET(-) group was significantly higher than that in PET(+) group,x2 =17.8,P=0.003.The disease-free survival rate of 0.5 year,1 year,2 years and 3 years after LT in T/B≤1.15 group and T/B＞1.15 group was 100.0％,92.3％,92.3％ and 92.3％,and 89.5％,59.7％,42.1％ and 33.7％ respectively.Log-rank test showed that disease-free survival rate of T/B≤1.15 group was significantly higher than that of T/B＞1.15 group,x2 =10.24,P =0.001.Conclusion 18F-FDG PET/CT can predict HCC recurrence after LT.PET(-)and T/B≤1.15 of the 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with HCC after LT were associated with a good prognosis,and PET(+) and T/B＞1.15 of the 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with HCC after LT with a poor prognosis.