F-18 FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY AND THE PROGNOSIS OF PATIENTS WITH PANCREATIC ADENOCARCINOMA

BACKGROUND. Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) detected by positron emission tom ography (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 disc overed by determining the degree of FDG integration into tumors. METHO DS. Fourteen patients with histologically proven pancreatic adenocarci noma underwent F-18-FDG PET. The standardized uptake value (SUV) of F- 18-FDG was calculated, and the patients were divided into high (greate r than or equal to 3.0) and low (<3.0) SW groups. RESULTS. The two gro ups were not significantly different in terms of age, tumor location a nd size, staging, and treatment. However, analysis by the Kaplan-Meier method revealed that the groups had different prognoses (log rank res t, 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 st rong correlations between the SUVs and tumor size (0.56), serum carboh ydrate antigen 19-9 (0.39), or carcinoembryonic antigen (0.52). CONCLU SIONS. SUV calculated with F-18-FDG can be utilized as a prognostic fa ctor for patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. (C) 1997 American Ca ncer Society.