Prognostic Impact of Hypoxia Imaging with 18F-Misonidazole PET in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Head and Neck Cancer Before Radiotherapy

Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Matthias Reimold¹  Gerald Reischl¹  Frank Paulsen¹  Hans-Juergen Machulla¹  Susanne-Martina Eschmann¹  Roland Bares¹  Helmut Dittmann¹  Stefan Welz¹ 

关键词: hypoxia imaging;    ¹⁸F-fluoromisonidazole PET;    prognosis;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Society of Nuclear Medicine

【 摘 要 】

In radiotherapy of head and neck cancer (HNC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), hypoxia is known to be an important prognostic factor for long-term survival and local tumor control. The PET tracer 18F-fluoromisonidazole (FMISO) allows noninvasive assessment of tumor hypoxia. This study analyzed whether FMISO PET could predict tumor recurrence after radiotherapy. Methods: Forty patients with advanced HNC (n = 26) or NSCLC (n = 14) were studied before curative radiotherapy. Dynamic (0–15 min) and static PET scans were acquired up to 4 h after injection of 400 MBq of FMISO. Standardized uptake values (SUVs) and ratios to reference tissues (mediastinum or muscle) were calculated. In addition, time–activity curves up to 14 min after injection were classified visually. PET data were correlated with clinical follow-up data (presence or absence of local recurrence within 1 y), which were available for 21 patients. Results: For HNC, patients with local recurrence could be separated from disease-free patients by SUV 4 h after injection (all recurrences had an SUV > 2). For NSCLC, no such correlation was observed. The tumor-to-muscle ratios (T/Mu) and tumor-to-mediastinum ratios (T/Me) at 4 h after injection correlated with the risk of relapse in both tumor entities: All patients with a T/Me greater than 2.0 (NSCLC, n = 5) or with a T/Mu greater than 1.6 (HNC, n = 5) presented with tumor recurrence, whereas only 3 of the remaining 11 patients experienced recurrence (27%). Qualitative analysis of time–activity curves for 37 patients revealed 3 curve types (rapid washout, n = 9; intermediate [delayed washout], n = 12; and accumulation, n = 16). Eighteen patients categorized by curve type could be followed up: In 5 of 6 patients with an accumulation curve, disease recurred locally within 1 y, compared with 5 of 8 patients with a delayed-washout curve and 0 of 4 with a rapid-washout curve. Conclusion: Our results indicate that outcome after radiotherapy can be predicted on the basis of kinetic behavior of FMISO in tumor tissue. An accumulation-type curve, high SUV, and high T/Mu and T/Me at 4 h after injection are highly suggestive of an incomplete response to treatment and might be used to select patients for intensified therapy protocols.

【 授权许可】

Unknown