Standardized uptake values for breast carcinomas assessed by fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography correlate with prognostic factors

Several studies have revealed the diagnostic value of fluorodeoxyglucose- positron emission tomography for breast carcinomas. However, breast carcinomas display considerable variation in 18F-labeled 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake, and few papers have reported the clinical utility of the standardized uptake values (SUV). The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between SUV assessed by positron emission tomography (PET) and the clinicopathological characteristics of breast carcinoma. We reviewed 52 breast carcinomas of 45 patients presented at our department between January 2004 and July 2005. We compared the histopathological findings of the breast carcinomas with the preoperative SUV. Of the 52 breast carcinomas, 49 (94%) were detected by preoperative PET. A positive correlation was found between the SUV and tumor size (P < 0.01), histological grade (P < 0.01), the expression of the estrogen receptor (P < 0.001), progesterone receptor (P < 0.01), and p53 (P < 0.01). The number of metastatic axillary lymph nodes (r = 0.73; P < 0.0001) and the MIB-1 labeling rates (r = 0.5; P < 0.01) correlated with the SUV of the breast carcinomas. No relationship existed between the SUV and the following: histological tumor types (P = 0.07), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 status (P = 0.10), and the presence of metastatic lymph nodes (P = 0.10). The SUV of the breast carcinomas correlate with several histopathological and immunohistochemical prognostic factors. We can obtain information on the degree of malignancy of the carcinoma and prognostic factors by preoperative PET examination.