The utility of the standardized uptake value, metabolic tumor volume and total lesion glycolysis as predictive markers of recurrent breast cancer

Background Breast cancer is the second leading cancer killer of women globally. An early measure utilizing a noninvasive molecular marker for predicting cancer aggressiveness is important to better manage the patient and to avert early disease progression. We aimed to determine whether metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) are able to predict risk in high TNM tumor staging and the need for the appropriate treatment in breast cancer patients. This is a retrospective study of confirmed breast cancer patients who underwent neoadjuvant, local and adjuvant treatment and follow-up. The 18 F-FDG PET/CT study for initial staging was performed, and metabolic parameters (MTV, TLG, SUVmax mean) were analyzed. Spearman correlation was used to assess correlations between metabolic parameters and clinicopathological factors with TNM staging and treatment intention. SUVmean, wbMTV and wbTLG were analyzed to predict the dichotomization of patient endpoint for low (stage I and II) and high (stage III and IV) TNM stage. Results Twenty-six patients (4 low stage, 22 high stage) with a mean age of 51.8 ± 11.8 years with confirmed breast cancer underwent 18 FFDG PET/CT. The MTV and TLG parameters in the tumor ( T ) were significantly correlated with the TNM stage ( P