¹⁸F-FDG-PET/CT in the assessment of atherosclerosis in lung cancer

The aim of this study was to assess the risk of atherosclerosis in patients with lung cancer compared to patients with extrapulmonary malignancies using ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT). We hypothesized that patients with lung cancer would demonstrate increased FDG uptake in the thoracic aorta compared to patients with extrapulmonary cancers. Thirty-four lung cancer patients (21 male, 13 female, 64.1 ± 12.9 yo) were retrospectively compared to seventy-eight patients with extrapulmonary malignancies (46 male, 32 female, 59.6 ± 12.8 yo). Average maximum standardized uptake value (avgSUVmax) and maximum target-to-blood pool ratio (TBRmax) were measured by mapping regions of interest of the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and descending aorta. Two-tailed Student's t-test was used to assess the differences in avgSUVmax and TBRmax between the two groups and between smokers and non-smokers. Age and gender distribution between the groups were not statistically different. AvgSUVmax and TBRmax were statistically significant increase in lung cancer patients compared to extrapulmonary cancer patients in the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and descending aorta, suggesting a lung cancer-associated increased risk of atherosclerosis development. AvgSUVmax was not significantly different between smokers and non-smokers in all sections of the thoracic aorta. Moving forward, large, prospective studies that directly compare PET data between different malignancies of different stages will help determine the role of FDG-PET/CT in assessing paraneoplastic vascular disease.