Prognostic Values of PET/CT Findings and Tumor/Patient Characteristics with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background/Aim: Although numerous prognostic factors have been described for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), there is still a requirement for better and non-invasive markers. FDG-PET is a non invasive diagnostic tool that is being used increasingly in the diagnosis of lung cancer. This study evaluates the prognostic values of PET/CT defined SUV measurements and other patient/tumor characteristics in newly diagnosed stage IIIB and IV NSCLC. Method: This retrospective study included 111 patients admitted between 2005 and 2006 with stage IIIB and IV NSCLC, whose diagnoses were verified with biopsy and staging performed with PET/CT. The prognostic values of standart uptake values (SUV) of the primary lesion on PET/CT, and other patient/tumor characteristics were analyzed using survival analysis. Results: SUV was found to be unrelated with survival. Only the presence of distant metastasis, type of metastasis (bone, brain, or the contralateral lung) and the type of radiotherapy used (curative or palliative) were found to be related to survival. SUV values in epidermoid carcinoma were found to be significantly higher compared to adenocarcinoma (16.15 ± 7.18 and 12.32 ± 5.52, respectively, p = 0.021). Conclusion: Our findings do not support that SUV of the primary lesion in inoperable NSCLC has a prognostic value with respect to survival. This condition may be explained by the inclusion of significantly advanced NSCLC patients who are known to have a low survival and a high mortality, and also the relatively small sampling size.