Volume-based assessment by (18)F-FDG PET/CT predicts survival in patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer

We evaluated the prognostic impact of volume-based assessment by (18)F-FDG PET/CT in patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

We reviewed 194 consecutive patients with stage IIIA NSCLC treated with surgical resection (surgical group) and 115 patients treated with nonsurgical therapy (nonsurgical group: 50 stage IIIA, 65 stage IIIB). Metabolic tumour volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of primary tumours were measured using pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT. Overall survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic significance of PET parameters and other clinical variables was assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. To evaluate and compare the predictive performance of PET parameters, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used.

In the Cox proportional hazards models, MTV (HR=1.27 for a doubling of MTV, P=0.008) and TLG (HR=1.22 for a doubling of TLG, P=0.035) were significantly associated with an increased risk of death after adjusting for age, gender, histological cell type, T stage, N stage, and treatment variables in the surgical group. SUVmax was not a significant prognostic factor in either the surgical or nonsurgical group. In the time-dependent ROC curve analysis, volume-based PET parameters predicted survival better than SUVmax.

The volume-based PET parameters (MTV and TLG) are significant prognostic factors for survival independent of tumour stage and better prognostic imaging biomarkers than SUVmax in patients with stage IIIA NSCLC after surgical resection.