FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography findings for the prediction of early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after surgical resection

We investigated the predictive value of fluorine-18-fluorodenoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography for pathological malignant potential and early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after resection. From April 2006 to October 2009, 53 patients with naïve HCC were enrolled. Accumulations of 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in both HCC and non-HCC areas of the liver as well as the ratio of SUVmax (R-SUV; HCC/liver) were calculated. The results were evaluated to determine prognostic factors for early recurrence. One patient was graded as tumor node metastasis stage I, 35 as II, 14 as III and 3 as stage IV. Elevated protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (≥200 mAU/ml) as well as elevated fucosylated α-fetoprotein (≥15%), tumor size (≥5 cm) and high R-SUV (≥1.5) were risk factors for early recurrence in a univariate analysis (P