Predictive value of LN metastasis detected by 18F‑FDG PET/CT in patients with papillary thyroid cancer receiving iodine‑131 radiotherapy

Li,Chao; Zhang,Jian; Wang,Hui

doi:10.3892/ol.2019.10500

Predictive value of LN metastasis detected by 18F‑FDG PET/CT in patients with papillary thyroid cancer receiving iodine‑131 radiotherapy

Authors:
- Chao Li
- Jian Zhang
- Hui Wang
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Affiliations: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, P.R. China, Universal Medical Imaging Diagnostic Center, Shanghai 201103, P.R. China
Published online on: June 19, 2019 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2019.10500
Pages: 1641-1648
Copyright: © Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to predict the prognostic value of 18F‑fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the metastatic lymph nodes (mLNs) of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) with a negative iodine‑131 (131I) whole‑body scan (WBS). The present retrospective study included 32 patients with PTC undergoing standard surgery and radioiodine treatment. All patients received 18F‑FDG PET/CT imaging prior to and following therapy. All mLNs were divided into an effective treatment group (group A) and ineffective treatment group (group B) based on the PET Response Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.0 guidelines. All the patients were followed up for ≥9 months. A significant difference was identified in the peak standardized uptake value (SULpeak) between group B (7.85±3.20) and group A (5.36±2.19). A cut‑off value of 5.85 was used to distinguish ineffective treatment of lesions from mLNs receiving radioactive ablation based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis with an area under the ROC curve of 0.755. Patients with a high SULpeak (P=0.003) and extrathyroidal extension (P=0.030), confirmed by pathology, more frequently exhibited a poor prognosis. In conclusion, tracer uptake of 18F‑FDG for cervical metastatic nodes was revealed as a predictor for the clinical outcome of patients with PTC treated with radioiodine therapy. The present results also indicated that high SULpeak and extrathyroidal extension are poor predictors for patients with mLNs receiving 131I therapy.

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