AJR Am J Roentgenol 2000 Mar;174(3):769-74
Prognostic value of thoracic FDG PET imaging after treatment for
non-small cell lung cancer.
Patz EF Jr, Connolly J, Herndon J
OBJECTIVE: We determined the prognostic value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron
emission tomography (PET) for patients with treated lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We
examined patients who underwent FDG PET after first-line treatment for non-small cell lung
cancer. FDG PET results were correlated with survival rates to determine whether FDG PET
findings were predictive of outcomes. RESULTS: After initial therapy, 113 patients with
non-small cell lung cancer underwent FDG PET. One hundred patients had positive FDG PET
results and a median survival of 12 months (95% confidence interval, 9.2-15.4). Thirteen
patients had negative FDG PET results, and 11 (85%) of these patients are still living at
a median follow-up of 34 months. The difference in survival for patients with positive and
negative FDG PET results was statistically significant (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: FDG PET
has prognostic value and strongly correlates with survival rates of patients with treated
lung cancer. Patients with positive FDG PET results have a significantly worse prognosis
than patients with negative results. Additionally, FDG PET may be helpful in guiding
therapeutic treatments.
PMID: 10701623, UI: 20163558
