The prognostic role of baseline 18 F-FDG PET/CT SUVmax and SUVmax change in patients with node-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the prognostic role of baseline maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) obtained by pretreatment PET/CT and the change in SUVmax (ΔSUVmax [%]) in patients with axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

METHODS: One hundred and eighty patients with baseline SUVmax and 121 patients with SUVmax measurement after treatment were evaluated in the study. The baseline SUVmax value of the breast (SUVmaxB I) and axilla (SUVmaxA I) and the change in the SUVmax of the breast (ΔSUVmaxB ) and axilla (ΔSUVmaxA ) were measured. The optimal cut-off value of SUVmax and ΔSUVmax were determined by ROC curve analysis. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using Kaplan-Meier curves.

RESULTS: ΔSUVmaxB , pCRB , pCRA , and pCR parameters were found to be associated with relapse (P < .001, P = .033, P = .016, and P = .013, respectively). ΔSUVmaxB and SUVmaxA I were associated with mortality (P = .001 and P = .006, respectively). Multiple Cox regression analyses revealed that ΔSUVmaxB value was an independent prognostic factor for relapse and mortality (P = .013 and P = .010, respectively).

CONCLUSION: The results showed that ΔSUVmaxB was an independent prognostic factor for relapse and mortality in patients with axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer who received NAC.