The diagnostic value of 99TcM-2-(2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl) ethyl dihydrogen phosphate hypoxia imaging and its evaluation performance for radiotherapy efficacy in non-small-cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND AND AIM This study was designated to assess the diagnostic value of 99TcM-2-(2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazol-1-yl) ethyl dihydrogen phosphate (99TcM-MNLS) hypoxia imaging and its evaluation performance for radiotherapy efficacy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 61 patients with NSCLC were selected for this study. All patients were injected with 99TcM-MNLS within 1 week prior to radiotherapy and they were injected with 99TcM-MNLS again 3 months after radiotherapy. Qualitative analysis along with semiquantitative analysis results were obtained from hypoxia imaging. Meanwhile, the effect of radiotherapy on patients with NSCLC was evaluated based on the solid tumor curative effect evaluation standard. Finally, SPSS 19.0 statistical software was implemented for statistical analysis. RESULTS There was no significant difference in age or sex between the NSCLC patient group and benign patient group (P>0.05). 99TcM-MNLS was selectively concentrated in tumor tissues with a clear imaging in 24 hours. Results from both qualitative analysis and semiquantitative analysis indicated that the sensitivity and specificity of 99TcM-MNLS hypoxia imaging in diagnosing NSCLC were 93.8% and 84.6% and 72.9% and 100%, respectively. Moreover, the receiver operating characteristic curve provided evidence that 99TcM-MNLS hypoxia imaging was a powerful diagnostic tool in distinguishing malignant lung cancer from benign lesions. As suggested by 24-hour imaging, the tumor-to-normal ratio of patients in the 99TcM-MNLS high-intake group and low-intake group had a decline of 24.7% and 14.4% after radiotherapy, respectively. The decline in the tumor-to-normal ratio between the two dosage groups was significantly different (P<0.05). CONCLUSION 99TcM-MNLS hypoxia imaging had reliable values in both diagnosing NSCLC and evaluating therapeutic effects of radiotherapy on patients with NSCLC.