[18F]fluoroethyltyrosine-positron emission tomography-based therapy monitoring after stereotactic iodine-125 brachytherapy in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma

Mol Imaging. 2013 May;12(3):137-47.

Abstract

Therapy monitoring of glioma after stereotactic iodine-125 brachytherapy (SBT) remains challenging because posttherapeutic changes in magnetic resonance imaging can mimic tumor progression. We evaluated the prognostic value of serial [18F]fluoroethyltyrosine (FET)-positron emission tomographic (PET) scans for therapy monitoring of high-grade glioma (HGG) after SBT. Thirty-three patients with recurrent HGG were included. Serial FET-PET scans were performed prior to therapeutic intervention and at 3-month intervals during the first year after SBT. FET-PET evaluation was performed by both conventional data analysis and kinetic analysis. Prognostic factors were obtained from proportional hazard models. Median local progression-free survival (LPFS) was 11.1 months. Maximal standardized background uptake value (SUVmax/BG) and biologic tumor volume (BTV) differentiated accurately between therapeutic effects and local tumor progression at the 6-month and subsequent examinations. Increasing uptake kinetics at baseline (p < .05) and during follow-up (p < .01) were stringently associated with a longer LPFS. Early increase in FET uptake after SBT is not unequivocally associated with tumor progression; it might be induced by reactive changes and could easily lead to a misclassification of the tumor status (pseudoprogression). Six months after SBT (or later), however, increased SUVmax/BG and BTV values are associated with a worse prognosis. Multivariate analysis stresses the prognostic importance of dynamic studies.

MeSH terms

  • Brachytherapy / methods*
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Glioma / diagnosis*
  • Glioma / pathology
  • Glioma / therapy*
  • Humans
  • Iodine / therapeutic use*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
  • Tyrosine / analogs & derivatives*

Substances

  • O-(2-fluoroethyl)tyrosine
  • Tyrosine
  • Iodine