Prognostic value of SUVmean in oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers: comparison with SUVmax and other volumetric parameters of 18F-FDG PET.

Purpose: We investigated whether SUV parameters, from PET, can provide prognostic information for patients with oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer.
Patients and Methods: Forty-eight patients with oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer who underwent PET before treatment were enrolled. A volume of interest was placed on PET images covering the entire tumor volume and metastatic lymph nodes, and the SUVmax, SUVmean, metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured.
Results: With the use of Kaplan-Meier analysis, age, SUVmean, MTV, and TLG predicted decreased disease-free survival (DFS). However, SUVmax was not associated with DFS. In multivariate analysis, the variables were included in 3 separate models. An SUVmean2.5 was an independent prognostic factor for DFS. Other SUV parameters, such as MTV and TLG, were associated with trends toward a decreasing DFS.
Conclusions: SUVmean of PET was an independent prognostic factor for DFS in patients with oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer.