방사선의학 웹진

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this study was to investigate whether total lesion glycolysis (TLG) and metabolic tumor volume (MTV) measured by (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) could predict the aggressiveness and lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with incidentally detected differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

METHODS:

A total 358 patients with focal FDG-avid thyroid incidentaloma during cancer evaluation were enrolled. Among 235 patients in whom fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed, 51 patients underwent total thyroidectomy with LN dissection. We analyzed the relationship between volume-based parameters and clinicopathologic characteristics.

RESULTS:

The mean age and tumor size were 57.1 ± 11.3 years and 1.15 ± 0.81 cm, respectively. The prevalence of malignancy was 21.7 % (51/235). When SUVmax > 5.91, MTV2.5 > 2.05 cm(3), and TLG2.5 > 9.09 were used as cutoff points, sensitivity, specificity, and area under curve (AUC) for prediction of lateral LNM were 77.9, 69.1 %, 0.716 (P = 0.047), 77.8, 88.1 %, 0.839 (P < 0.001), 77.8, 85.1 %, and 0.815 (P = 0.002), respectively. However, MTV and TLG had no value in prediction of central LNM, extrathyroidal extension, and multifocality. On comparison ROC curve analysis, the MTV and TLG showed the statistical differences for the prediction of lateral LNM compared with SUVmax (all P's < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

This study has shown for the first time that volume-based PET functional parameters had a significant value for the prediction of lateral LNM in incidentally detected PTC. These results suggest that higher MTV and TLG can be potential new risk factors for preoperative risk stratification. The usefulness of TLG and MTV in preoperative risk stratification in patients with PTC needs to be confirmed in further large studies. 

Author information

Kim BH1, Kim SJ2, Kim K3, Kim H4, Kim SJ5, Kim WJ6, Jeon YK7, Kim SS8, Kim YK9, Kim IJ10.​

1Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. pons71@hanmail.net.

2Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. growthkim@daum.net.

3Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. 4mura2@hanmail.net.

4Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. dinggury84@hanmail.net.

5Department of Nuclear Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. laocone@naver.com.

6Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. bearshow00@hanmail.net.

7Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. puritystar@hanmail.net.

8Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. drsskim7@gmail.com.

9Kim Yong Ki Internal Medicine Clinic, Chungmu-dong 1-ga, Seo-gu, Busan, 602-011, Korea. yongki@pusan.ac.kr.

10Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Pusan National University and Biomedical Research Institute, 179 Gudeok-Ro, Seo-Gu, Busan, 602-739, Korea. injkim@pusan.ac.kr.