Maximum Standardized Uptake Value of F-18 FDG-PET Inversely Correlated with Immunoexpression of p16 INK4a in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

We have studied the possible relationship between the immunohistochemical expression of p16 and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max) of F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (F-18 FDGPET) in 49 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Immunohistochemical negativity of p16 was verified in 71.4 % of the patients, higher in squamous cell carcinomas than in adenocarcinomas (p: 0.033). The SUV max correlates with negativity for p16 (p: 0.042) and was higher (p: 0.024) in cases with p16-negative (17.3 ± 8.3) than in cases with p16-positive (12.7 ± 5.2). We can conclude that inactivation of the p16 INK4a gene is very frequent in NSCLC, with higher values in squamous cell carcinomas. SUV max correlated positively and statistically with negativity for p16, which could explain why higher estimates of SUV max are found in squamous cell carcinomas when compared to adenocarcinomas. Only the clinical stage was found to be an independent prognostic value after multivariate