Prospective study of dynamic whole-body 68Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT acquisition in patients with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors

Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 1;11(1):4727. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83965-9.

Abstract

To present the feasibility of a dynamic whole-body (DWB) 68Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT acquisition in patients with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (WD-NETs). Sixty-one patients who underwent a DWB 68Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT for a histologically proven/highly suspected WD-NET were prospectively included. The acquisition consisted in single-bed dynamic acquisition centered on the heart, followed by the DWB and static acquisitions. For liver, spleen and tumor (1-5/patient), Ki values (in ml/min/100 ml) were calculated according to Patlak's analysis and tumor-to-liver (TLR-Ki) and tumor-to-spleen ratios (TSR-Ki) were recorded. Ki-based parameters were compared to static parameters (SUVmax/SUVmean, TLR/TSRmean, according to liver/spleen SUVmean), in the whole-cohort and according to the PET system (analog/digital). A correlation analysis between SUVmean/Ki was performed using linear and non-linear regressions. Ki-liver was not influenced by the PET system used, unlike SUVmax/SUVmean. The regression analysis showed a non-linear relation between Ki/SUVmean (R2 = 0.55,0.68 and 0.71 for liver, spleen and tumor uptake, respectively) and a linear relation between TLRmean/TLR-Ki (R2 = 0.75). These results were not affected by the PET system, on the contrary of the relation between TSRmean/TSR-Ki (R2 = 0.94 and 0.73 using linear and non-linear regressions in digital and analog systems, respectively). Our study is the first showing the feasibility of a DWB 68Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT acquisition in WD-NETs.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors / diagnosis*
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors / diagnostic imaging*
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors / pathology
  • Octreotide / administration & dosage
  • Octreotide / analogs & derivatives
  • Organometallic Compounds / administration & dosage
  • Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
  • Radionuclide Imaging / methods*
  • Spleen / diagnostic imaging*
  • Spleen / pathology
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods

Substances

  • Ga(III)-DOTATOC
  • Organometallic Compounds
  • Octreotide