Relationship of Frontal Cortex Glucose Metabolism with Depression-Anxiety Status in Patients with Early Stace Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: We investigated the relationship between frontal cortex 18-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)FDG) uptake levels and depression-anxiety status in patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (E-NSCLC) who underwent (18)FDG-positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)FDG-PET/CT) imaging. Methods: This prospective study was conducted between the May-November 2020, after the permission of ethics committee. A total of 34 patients with E-NSCLC who underwent (18)FDG-PET/CT imaging for diagnosis-staging and the control group consisting of 25 subjects were included in the study. Regional cerebral (18)FDG uptake level was calculated by SUVmean. Depression-anxiety levels were determined using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The frontal cortex SUVmean ratio and depression-anxiety levels was compared between the groups, and the relationship between SUVmean ratio and depression-anxiety levels were performed. Results: The frontal cortex SUVmean ratio values were somewhat lower in the patient group compared to the control group for both sexes, being more prominent in males. However, these differences were not statistically significant for both sexes [for male: 0.75 +/- 0.006, 0.79 +/- 0.03; (p=0.055); for female: 0.73 +/- 0.04, 0.74 +/- 0.049; (p=0.71)]. In addition, a statistically significant weak negative correlation was found between frontal SUVmean values and anxiety levels in male patients (r=-0.4697, p=0.01). Conclusions: We believe that the measurement of frontal cortex (18)FDG uptake level and notification of the clinician about the patients with decreased values are important in patients with E-NSCLC who underwent (18)FDG-PET/CT imaging.