PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Myslivecek, Miroslav
AU  - Neoral, Cestmir
AU  - Vrba, Radek
AU  - Vomackova, Katherine
AU  - Cincibuch, Jan
AU  - Formanek, Radim
AU  - Koranda, Pavel
AU  - Zapletalova, Jana
TI  - The value of <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT in assessment of metabolic response in esophageal cancer for prediction of histopathological response and survival after preoperative chemoradiotherapy
DP  - 2012 Jun 1
TA  - Biomedical papers
PG  - 171--179
VI  - 156
IP  - 2
AID - 10.5507/bp.2011.048
IS  - 12138118
AB  - Aim: To evaluate the ability of hybrid 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (<sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT) to predict histopathological response and overall survival (OS) after preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with the esophageal carcinoma.
Methods: 73 patients with locally advanced esophageal carcinoma were included in the study. All were treated with CRT and 34 subsequently underwent surgical resection of the esophagus. <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT was carried out prior to (PET/ CT1) and 6 weeks after (PET/CT2) completion of the CRT.
Results: PET/CT2-determined complete metabolic response (CMR) was achieved in 6 (17.6%) out of 34 operated patients, the metabolic response was incomplete (NCMR) in 28 (82.4%) patients. A histopathological complete response (CR) to CRT was discovered in 7 patients (20.6%). The median OS in operated patients was 17.1 months, 95% CI:12.9-23.3 months. In a group of 39 non-operated patients, CMR after neoadjuvant CRT was achieved in 12 patients (30.8%), while NCMR was found in 28 (82.4%). The median OS was 13.5 months in this group, 95% CI: 4.4-22.7 months.
Conclusion: No statistically significant correlation was found between the <sup>18</sup>F-FDG metabolic response after the neoadjuvant CRT and histopathological response. Presently, the contribution of <sup>18</sup>F-FDG PET/CT as a marker of the potential result of CRT cannot be considered definite. Another study with a larger sample of patients and standardized algorithms for the examining protocols would be necessary for reaching definitive conclusions.