Correlation of intra-tumor 18F-FDG uptake heterogeneity indices with perfusion CT derived parameters in colorectal cancer

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 13;9(6):e99567. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099567. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Methods: Thirty patients with proven colorectal cancer prospectively underwent integrated 18F-FDG PET/DCE-CT to assess the metabolic-flow phenotype. Both CT blood flow parametric maps and PET images were analyzed. Correlations between PET heterogeneity and perfusion CT were assessed by Spearman's rank correlation analysis.

Results: Blood flow visualization provided by DCE-CT images was significantly correlated with 18F-FDG PET metabolically active tumor volume as well as with uptake heterogeneity for patients with stage III/IV tumors (|ρ|:0.66 to 0.78; p-value<0.02).

Conclusion: The positive correlation found with tumor blood flow indicates that intra-tumor heterogeneity of 18F-FDG PET accumulation reflects to some extent tracer distribution and consequently indicates that 18F-FDG PET intra-tumor heterogeneity may be associated with physiological processes such as tumor vascularization.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Colorectal Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
  • Genetic Heterogeneity
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods
  • Prospective Studies
  • Radiographic Image Enhancement
  • Radiopharmaceuticals*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*
  • Tumor Burden

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a fellowship from the French Ministry of Education and Research. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.