Postchemoradiotherapy positron emission tomography predicts pathologic response and survival in patients with esophageal cancer.

PURPOSE: To correlate the prechemoradiotherapy (CRT) and post-CRT metabolic tumor volume (MTV) on positron emission tomography (PET) scanning with the pathologic response and survival in patients receiving preoperative CRT for esophageal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 37 patients with histologically confirmed Stage I-IVA esophageal cancer treated with CRT with or without surgical resection were reviewed. Of the 37 patients, 21 received preoperative CRT (57%) and 16 received definitive CRT (43%). All patients had a pre-CRT and 32 had a post-CRT PET scan. The MTV was measured on the pre-CRT PET and post-CRT PET scan, respectively, using a minimum standardized uptake value (SUV) threshold x, where x = 2, 2.5, 3, or the SUV maximum × 50%. The total glycolytic activity (TGA(x)) was defined as the mean SUV × MTV(x). The MTV ratio was defined as the pre-CRT PET MTV/post-CRT MTV. The SUV ratio was defined similarly. A single pathologist scored the pathologic response using a tumor regression grade (TRG) scale. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 1.5 years (range, 0.4-4.9). No significant correlation was found between any parameters on the pre-CRT PET scan and the TRG or overall survival (OS). Multiple post-CRT MTV values and post-TGA values correlated with the TRG and OS; however, the MTV(2.5(Post)) and TGA(2.5(Post)) had the greatest correlation. The MTV(2) ratio correlated with OS. The maximum SUV on either the pre-CRT and post-CRT PET scans or the maximum SUV ratio did not correlate with the TRG or OS. Patients treated preoperatively had survival similar compared with those treated definitively with a good PET response (p = 0.97) and significantly better than that of patients treated definitively with a poor PET response (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The maximum SUV was not a predictive or prognostic parameter. The MTV(2.5) and TGA(2.5) were useful markers for predicting the response and survival on the post-CRT PET scan. The MTV(2) ratio also correlated with survival. Post-CRT PET can potentially guide therapy after CRT.

Prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume and velocity in predicting head-and-neck cancer outcomes.

PURPOSE: We previously showed that metabolic tumor volume (MTV) on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) predicts for disease recurrence and death in head-and-neck cancer (HNC). We hypothesized that increases in MTV over time would correlate with tumor growth and biology, and would predict outcome. We sought to examine tumor growth over time in serial pretreatment PET-CT scans. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From 2006 to 2009, 51 patients had two PET-CT scans before receiving HNC treatment. MTV was defined as the tumor volume ≥ 50% of maximum SUV (SUV(max)). MTV was calculated for the primary tumor, nodal disease, and composite (primary tumor + nodes). MTV and SUV velocity were defined as the change in MTV or SUV(max) over time, respectively. Cox regression analyses were used to examine correlations between SUV, MTV velocity, and outcome (disease progression and overall survival). RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 17.5 months. The median time between PET-CT scans was 3 weeks. Unexpectedly, 51% of cases demonstrated a decrease in SUV(max) (average, -0.1 cc/week) and MTV (average, -0.3 cc/week) over time. Despite the variability in MTV, primary tumor MTV velocity predicted disease progression (hazard ratio 2.94; p = 0.01) and overall survival (hazard ratio 1.85; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Primary tumor MTV velocity appears to be a better prognostic indicator of disease progression and survival in comparison to nodal MTV velocity. However, substantial variability was found in PET-CT biomarkers between serial scans. Caution should be used when PET-CT biomarkers are integrated into clinical protocols for HNC.

Positron emission tomography for predicting pathologic response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether before and after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) positron emission tomography (PET) predict for pathologic response after preoperative CRT in patients with locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Thirty-five patients who underwent pre-CRT and post-CRT PET scans before surgery were included. All patients were staged with endoscopic ultrasound or high resolution CT. CRT was given with 50.4 Gy at 1.8 Gy per fraction and concurrent 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. Surgery occurred at a median of 46 days (range, 27 to 112 d) after completing CRT. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) and the metabolic tumor volume (MTV) using various minimum SUV thresholds (2, 2.5, 3) on the PET scans (MTV(2.0), MTV(2.5), MTV(3.0)) were determined. Post-CRT PET scans were done 3 to 5 weeks after completion of CRT. Pathologic response was assessed using the tumor regression grade (TRG) scale. Patients with complete or near-complete response (TRG=0 to 1) were considered pathologic responders. The pre-CRT and post-CRT PET scan SUV(max) and MTV values were correlated with TRG. The ΔSUV(max) and ΔMTV were correlated with TRG. RESULTS: No correlation was seen with SUV(max) (P=0.99), MTV(2.0) (P=0.73), MTV(2.5) (P=0.73), or MTV(3.0) (P=0.31) on the pre-CRT PET between pathologic responders versus nonresponders. No correlation was noted between SUV(max) (P=0.49), MTV(2.0) (P=0.73), MTV(2.5) (P=0.49), or MTV(3.0) (P=0.31) on the post-CRT PET scan and pathologic response. Finally, the ΔSUV(max) (P=0.32), ΔMTV(2.0) (P=0.99), ΔMTV(2.5) (P=0.31), ΔMTV(3.0) (P=0.31) did not correlate with pathologic response. CONCLUSIONS: Changes seen on PET have limited value in predicting for pathologic response of rectal cancer after preoperative neoadjuvant therapy.