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Whole Body and Regional Quantification of Active Human Brown Adipose Tissue Using 18F-FDG PET/CT
Published on: April 1, 2019
Brown fat at PET/CT: correlation with patient characteristics
Carmel G Cronin1, Priyanka Prakash, Gilbert H Daniels
1Department of Abdominal Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, White 270, Boston, MA 02114, USA. cgcronin@partners.org
Radiology
|May 25, 2012
Summary
Brown fat, identified by fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake, was found in 4.33% of cancer patients. Female and thinner individuals were more likely to have brown fat, with younger patients showing higher uptake values.
Area of Science:
- Nuclear Medicine
- Oncology
- Radiology
Background:
- Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a role in energy metabolism.
- Understanding BAT prevalence in cancer patients is crucial for interpreting positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans.
- Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in BAT can mimic or obscure malignant lesions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of brown fat in cancer patients undergoing FDG PET/CT.
- To compare demographic and clinical characteristics between patients with and without brown fat.
- To investigate the correlation between patient characteristics and the standardized uptake values (SUVs) of brown fat.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective case-control study analyzed 12,195 PET/CT examinations from 6,867 cancer patients.
- Patients with documented FDG uptake in brown fat (n=298) were compared to controls without brown fat (n=298), matched for age, sex, and examination date.
- Statistical analyses included t-tests, chi-squared tests, and Pearson correlation to compare demographics and SUVs.
Main Results:
- Brown fat FDG uptake was observed in 4.33% of patients.
- Prevalence was significantly higher in females (5.9%) than males (2.65%).
- Patients with brown fat had lower body weight and body mass index compared to controls. Maximum SUV of brown fat inversely correlated with age.
Conclusions:
- Brown fat is present in a small percentage of cancer patients, more commonly in females and thinner individuals.
- Age is a significant factor influencing brown fat activity, with younger patients exhibiting higher FDG uptake.
- These findings aid in differentiating brown fat activity from malignancy on FDG PET/CT scans.
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