Nucl Med Mol Imaging.  2015 Mar;49(1):19-25. 10.1007/s13139-014-0296-y.

Correlation of Primary Tumor FDG Uptake with Clinicopathologic Prognostic Factors in Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast

• Jo I
• Zeon SK
• Kim SH
• Kim HW
• Kang SH
• Kwon SY
• Kim SJ

• KMID: 2313241
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-014-0296-y

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of primary tumor FDG uptake to clinicopathological prognostic factors in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed 136 of 215 female patients with pathologically proven invasive ductal breast cancer from January 2008 to December 2011 who underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT for initial staging and follow-up after curative treatment with analysis of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of the primary breast tumor was measured and compared with hormonal receptor and HER2 overexpression status.
RESULTS
The high SUVmax of primary breast tumors is significantly correlated with the clinicopathological factors: tumor size, histologic grade, TNM stage, negativity of ER, negativity of PR, HER2 overexpression and triple negativity. The recurrent group with non-triple negative cancer had a higher SUVmax compared with the non-recurrent group, though no significant difference in FDG uptake was noted between the recurrence and non-recurrent groups in subjects with triple-negative cancer. Lymph node involvement was the independent risk factor for cancer recurrence in the multivariate analysis.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, high FDG uptake in primary breast tumors is significantly correlated with clinicopathological factors, such as tumor size, histologic grade, TNM stage, negativity of the hormonal receptor, HER2 overexpression and triple negativity. Therefore, FDG PET/CT is a helpful prognostic tool to direct the further management of patients with breast cancer.

Keyword

F-18 FDG; PET/CT; Breast cancer; Triple negative; Invasive ductal carcinoma

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms
Breast*
Carcinoma, Ductal*
Estrogens
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Multivariate Analysis
Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography
Receptors, Progesterone
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Estrogens
Receptors, Progesterone