F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and the prognosis of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND. Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) detected by positron emission tomography (PET) can be used to measure the glycolytic activity of tumor cells. Though the prognosis of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma is usually poor, a subset of patients with good prognoses may be discovered by determining the degree of FDG integration into tumors. METHODS. Fourteen patients with histologically proven pancreatic adenocarcinoma underwent F-18-FDG PET. The standardized uptake value (SUV) of F-18-FDG was calculated, and the patients were divided into high (greater than or equal to 3.0) and low (<3.0) SW groups. RESULTS. The two groups were not significantly different in terms of age, tumor location and size, staging, and treatment. However, analysis by the Kaplan-Meier method revealed that the groups had different prognoses (log rank rest, P <0.05). The mean survival of patients with high SW was 5 months, whereas that of patients with low SUV was 14 months. There were not strong correlations between the SUVs and tumor size (0.56), serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (0.39), or carcinoembryonic antigen (0.52). CONCLUSIONS. SUV calculated with F-18-FDG can be utilized as a prognostic factor for patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. (C) 1997 American Cancer Society.