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Usefulness of metabolic activity of adipose tissue in FDG PET/CT of colorectal cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine the relationship between metabolic activity of adipose tissue on FDG PET/CT and prognosis in colorectal cancer.

Methods

A total of 176 colorectal cancer patients with curative surgical resection were retrospectively enrolled. Volume and metabolic activity of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) on FDG PET/CT images were measured. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) of primary tumor (SUVtumor) was also obtained. Univariate analysis with log-rank test and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate prognostic values of volume and metabolic activity of SAT and VAT as well as SUVtumor and clinicopathologic factors.

Results

Of 176 patients, 26 experienced recurrence during follow-up. SUVtumor showed significant correlation with serum C-reactive protein level (r = 0.242, p = 0.001), SUV of VAT (r = 0.167, p = 0.026), and size of primary tumor (r = 0.341, p < 0.001). In univariate analysis with log-rank test, SUV of VAT (p = 0.009) and SAT (p = 0.006), volume of VAT (p = 0.015), N stage (p < 0.001), M stage (p < 0.001), tumor involvement of resection margin (p = 0.001), and lymphatic invasion (p = 0.024) were significantly associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS). However, SUVtumor showed no significant association with RFS. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, SUV of VAT (p = 0.016), presence of lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), and tumor involvement of resection margin (p = 0.011) were independent prognostic factors for RFS.

Conclusions

The SUV of VAT in patients with colorectal cancer is significantly associated with FDG uptake of primary tumor. It is an independent predictor for RFS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, 6-31 Soonchunhyang-gil, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, 31151, Republic of Korea

    Ik Dong Yoo & Sang Mi Lee

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, International St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, Incheon, 22711, Republic of Korea

    Jeong Won Lee

  3. Department of Surgery, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, 31151, Republic of Korea

    Moo-Jun Baek & Tae Sung Ahn

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  1. Ik Dong Yoo
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Correspondence to Sang Mi Lee.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study formal consent is not required.

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Yoo, I.D., Lee, S.M., Lee, J.W. et al. Usefulness of metabolic activity of adipose tissue in FDG PET/CT of colorectal cancer. Abdom Radiol 43, 2052–2059 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1418-7

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