فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: Flourine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ( 18 F-FDG PET/CT) scan is employed for initial staging and restaging of esophageal cancer patients. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the value of a semi-quantitative parameter of 18 F-FDG PET/CT scan, that is, maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ), to determine its correlation with patient survival in two subtypes of esophageal cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma. Results: No significant difference was observed in the SUV max values of the primary tumor, metastatic lymph nodes, or distant metastasis between the adenocarcinoma and SCC groups, regardless of response to treatment. Similarly, no significant association was found between the short-term survival of patients with adenocarcinoma and the SUV max values of the primary tumor, metastatic lymph nodes, or distant metastasis. Based on the survival curve, one- and two-year survival rates were estimated at 75% and 63.9% in patients with SCC and at 80% and 60% in patients with adenocarcinoma, respectively. In the SCC group, a significantly higher SUV max was detected in deceased patients with distant metastatic lesions compared to cancer survivors. According to the area under the ROC curve, the SUV max of metastatic lesions showed high potential for predicting the mortality of SCC patients. Conclusion: The assessment of SUV max in distant metastatic lesions by 18 F-FDG-PET/CT may help predict the survival of patients with esophageal SCC. However, 18 F-FDG-PET/CT findings were not associated with the survival of esophageal adenocarcinoma; therefore, further evaluations on a larger sample size and a longer follow-up are required.