Prognostic value of metabolic tumor volume as measured by fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Background The prognostic value of the tumor burden characterized by the metabolic tumor volume (MTV) remains under investigation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and MTV according to metabolic volume threshold as measured by positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), and other clinical factors, in patients with NPC. Methods This study was a retrospective chart review. We evaluated the association of SUVmax, MTV2.5, MTV3.0, and other clinical factors with overall survival (OS) using Kaplan‐Meier and Cox regression models. (MTV2.5 and MTV3.0 are the volume of hypermetabolic tissue within the regions of gross tumor volumes with a SUV value greater than the threshold values of 2.5 and 3.0, respectively.) Results Higher MTV2.5 of 31.45 cm3 and MTV3.0 of 23.01 cm3 were associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.028; p = 0.029), although no significant relationship was found between SUVmax and OS. Interestingly, MTV3.0 was associated with OS in both the differentiated and undifferentiated groups, although MTV2.5 was only associated with OS in the undifferentiated group. Among the clinical parameters, only radiotherapy was associated with longer OS (HR = 12.124; p < 0.001). Conclusion The MTV and radiotherapy could be prognostic values associated with OS. Particularly, MTV2.5 and MTV3.0 might be valuable metabolic parameters for predicting long‐term survival in patients with NPC. Furthermore, MTV3.0 may be more useful because it can be applied irrespective of pathologic subtype.