Prognostic value of baseline FDG uptake on PET-CT in esophageal carcinoma

AIM: To evaluate the influence of baseline maximum standardized uptake value(SUVmax) on survival in a cohort of patients, undergoing positron emission tomography-computed tomography(PET-CT) scan for esophageal carcinoma. METHODS: The pre-treatment SUVmax numeric reading was determined in patients with confirmed esophageal or junctional cancer having PET-CT scan during the time period 1st January 2007 until 31 st July 2012. A minimum follow up of 12 mo was required. Patients were subdivided into quartiles according to SUVmax value and the influence of SUVmax on survival was assessed using univariate and multivariate analysis. The following pre-treatment factors were investigated: patient characteristics, tumor characteristics and planned treatment. RESULTS: The study population was 271 patients(191male) with esophageal or junctional carcinoma. The median age was 65 years(range 40-85) and histologic subtype was adenocarcinoma in 197 patients and squamous carcinoma in 74 patients. The treatment intent was radical in 182 and palliative in 89 patients. SUVmax was linked to histologic subtype(P = 0.008), tumor site(P = 0.01) and Union for International Cancer Control(UICC) stage(P < 0.001). On univariate analysis, prognosis was significantly associated with SUVmax(P = 0.001), T-stage(P < 0.001) and UICC stage(P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, only T-stage and UICC stage remained significant. CONCLUSION: Pretreatment SUVmax was not a useful marker in isolation for determining prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma.