18F-FDG PET at Diagnosis of Soft Tissue Sarcoma or Bone Sarcoma May Be Predictive Tool

¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET) at diagnosis provided a “very useful predictive tool” for patients with soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma, according to an article in the European Journal of Cancer.¹

Investigators performed a systematic review to provide an up-to-date and ground-breaking summary of the prognostic value of ¹⁸F-FDG PET. They searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science for studies evaluating pretreatment with ¹⁸F-FDG PET for overall survival of patients with soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma. They performed comparative analyses of the pooled hazard ratios of overall survival between patients with high and low maximum standardized uptake value (SUV_max).

A total of 6 studies comprising 514 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Results revealed that the pooled hazard ratio for overall survival was 1.22 (95% CI, 1.03 – 1.46), which suggested that high SUV_max predicted a significantly shorter overall survival period than low SUV_max (P = .03).

Subgroup analyses using patients with soft tissue sarcoma alone revealed that high SUV_max might predict poorer overall survival than low SUV_max (P = .004). The authors noted that only 2 studies were included in this analysis, however, their overall quality by Newcastle-Ottawa scale assessment was adequate.

Reference

1. Kubo T, Furuta T, Johhan MP, Ochi M. Prognostic significance of ¹⁸F-FDG PET at diagnosis in patients with soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma; systematic review and meta-analysis. Euro J Cancer. 2016;58:104-111.