Novel prediction model combining PET/CT metabolic parameters, inflammation markers, and TNM stage: prospects for personalizing prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PURPOSE: This study aims to develop a novel prediction model and risk stratification system that could accurately predict progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: Herein, we included 106 individuals diagnosed with NPC, who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning before treatment. They were divided into training (n = 76) and validation (n = 30) sets. The prediction model was constructed based on multivariate Cox regression analysis results and its predictive performance was evaluated. Risk factor stratification was performed based on the nomogram scores of each case, and Kaplan-Meier curves were used to evaluate the model's discriminative ability for high- and low-risk groups. RESULTS: Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that N stage, M stage, SUVmax, MTV, HI, and SIRI were independent factors affecting the prognosis of patients with NPC. In the training set, the model considerably outperformed the TNM stage in predicting PFS (AUCs of 0.931 vs. 0.841, 0.892 vs. 0.785, and 0.892 vs. 0.804 at 1-3 years, respectively). The calibration plots showed good agreement between actual observations and model predictions. The DCA curves further justified the effectiveness of the model in clinical practice. Between high- and low-risk group, 3-year PFS rates were significantly different (high- vs. low-risk group: 62.8% vs. 9.8%, p < 0.001). Adjuvant chemotherapy was also effective for prolonging survival in high-risk patients (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Herein, a novel prediction model was successfully developed and validated to improve the accuracy of prognostic prediction for patients with NPC, with the aim of facilitating personalized treatment.

Primary hyperparathyroidism: predictors of sporadic multi-gland disease.

In this review, we discuss the definition, prevalence, and etiology of sporadic multiglandular disease (MGD), with an emphasis on its preoperative and intraoperative predictors. Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is the third-most common endocrine disorder, and multiglandular parathyroid disease (MGD) is a cause of PHPT. Hereditary MGD can be definitively diagnosed with detailed family history and genetic testing, whereas sporadic MGD presents a greater challenge in clinical practice, and parathyroidectomy for MGD is associated with a higher risk of surgical failure than single gland disease (SGD). Therefore, it is crucial to be able to predict the presence of sporadic MGD in a timely manner, either preoperatively or intraoperatively. Various predictive methods cannot accurately identify all cases of sporadic MGD, but they can greatly optimize the management of MGD diagnosis and treatment and optimize the cure rate. Future research will urge us to investigate more integrative predictive models as well as increase our understanding of MGD pathogenesis.

Predicting epithelial ovarian cancer prognosis: correlation of posttreatment 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography metabolic parameters, serum carbohydrate antigen, and human epididymis protein levels with overall survival.

Background: Identifying reliable prognostic indicators can aid in improving patient care. The aim of this study was to establish the association of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) whole-body metabolic parameters, serum carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), and human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) with overall survival (OS) in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) after surgery combined with platinum-based chemotherapy. Methods: From May 2014 to May 2019, a total of 79 patients with EOC who underwent posttreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University were included. Clinical data and laboratory indicators were obtained. The whole-body maximum standardized uptake value (WBSUVmax), whole-body metabolic tumor volume (WBMTV), and whole-body total lesion glycolysis (WBTLG) were measured and calculated on 18F-FDG PET/CT. The follow-up was conducted until February 2023, and the endpoint was death from any cause. Pearson correlation analysis, Kaplan-Meier, and Cox proportional regression were used in this study. Results: The PET-positive (PET-P) patients had significantly decreased OS based on either Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (P<0.001) or univariate Cox regression analysis [hazard ratio (HR) =40.177, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.690-600.134; P=0.007]. "Ln" is a logarithmic transformation with a base of "e" (natural logarithm). LnWBMTV, lnWBTLG, and therapy after PET were independent predictors of OS in a cohort of 63 PET-P patients. The difference in OS between groups sorted by the median WBMTV (4.16; P<0.001) and WBTLG (14.71; P<0.001) was statistically significant. There were statistically significant differences in CA125 and HE4 levels between patients in the PET-P and PET-negative (PET-N) groups (P<0.001). In the PET-P patient cohort, serum HE4 levels were substantially correlated with WBMTV and WBTLG. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis suggested a reduction in OS after treatment in patients with EOC positive for CA125, HE4, and PET (P<0.001). Conclusions: Post-PET/CT treatment strategy, WBMTV, and WBTLG demonstrated significant prognostic utility in predicting posttreatment OS in patients with EOC. Patients who tested positive for both tumor markers CA125 and HE4 and had a positive PET scan demonstrated a significantly poorer prognosis in terms of posttreatment OS.

Prognostic utility of 99mTc-MIBI single photon emission computerized tomography myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with ischemia and non-obstructive coronary artery disease.

Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic value of gated SPECT MPI in non-obstructed coronary arteries (INOCA) patients, sought to stratify patients more accurately and thus derive more reliable prognostic information. Materials and methods: In total, 167 patients with INOCA were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups according to their SSS. Patients were followed-up regularly in terms of major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), including cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, re-hospitalization with angina pectoris, and recurrent angina pectoris. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox's proportional hazards models were used to analyze survival and identify predictive factors. Results: Adverse cardiac events occurred in 33 cases (19.8%). The rate of MACE was higher in the summed stress score (SSS) ≥4 group than in the SSS 0-3 group (30.1% vs. 9.5%, respectively, P = 0.001) and MACE-free survival was lower (annual MACE-free rates of 87.5% vs. 96.2%, respectively, P = 0.003). Event-free survival was consistently higher in patients with normal arteries than in those with non-obstructive coronary artery disease (annual MACE-free rates of 96.1% and 88.4%, P = 0.035). When the SSS and the CAG results were combined, patients with normal coronary arteries (SSS 0-3) had the best prognosis and those with non-obstructive coronary artery stenosis (SSS ≥ 4) had the worst. However, the early prognosis of patients with non-obstructive coronary artery disease and SSS of 0-3 was comparable to that of patients with normal coronary arteries and SSS ≥ 4 (annual MACE-free rates of 100%, 94.6%, 93.1%, and 78.2%, respectively). Multivariate Cox's regression indicated that the SSS [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.126, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.042-1.217, P = 0.003] and non-obstructive coronary artery disease (HR = 2.559, 95% CI 1.249-5.246, P = 0.01) were predictors of adverse cardiac events. Conclusion: SPECT MPI data were prognostic for INOCA patients, thus identifying groups at high risk. The long-term predictive efficacy of such data exceeded that of CAG data. A combination of the two measures more accurately stratified INOCA patients in terms of risk.

Preoperative PET/CT score can predict incomplete resection after debulking surgery for advanced serous ovarian cancer better than CT score, MTV, tumor markers and hematological markers.

INTRODUCTION: Complete resection after debulking surgery is strongly associated with prolonged survival for advanced serous ovarian cancer (ASOC). Though positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is more advantageous than computed tomorgraphy (CT) for detecting metastases, studies on the PET/CT prediction model for incomplete resection for ovarian cancer are insufficient. We analyzed and compared the predictive value of preoperative PET/CT score, CT score, metabolic parameters, tumor markers and hematological markers for incomplete resection after debulking surgery for ASOC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 62 ASOC patients who underwent preoperative [18 F]FDG PET/CT and debulking surgery were retrospectively analyzed. PET/CT and CT scores were based on the Suidan model. The predictive value of PET/CT score, CT score, the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), cancer antigen 125 (CA125), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for incomplete resection were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: Preoperative PET/CT score had the highest predictive value for incomplete resection in primary debulking surgery group (sensitivity: 65.0%, specificity: 88.9%, area under the ROC curve (AUC): 0.847, p < 0.001), however, in secondary debulking surgery group, preoperative PET/CT score and CT score had the same and highest predictive value for incomplete resection (sensitivity: 80.0%, specificity: 94.7%, AUC: 0.853, p = 0.017), compared with preoperative metabolic parameters SUVmax and MTV, tumor markers HE4 and CA125, and hematological markers LMR, PLR and NLR. Preoperative PET/CT score ≥ 3 (Suidan model) and preoperative PET/CT score ≥ 2 predicted a high risk of incomplete resection after primary and secondary debulking surgeries, respectively. There was no statistical difference between primary and secondary debulking surgery groups in predictive value of PET/CT score for incomplete resection (p = 0.971). There were significant differences between PET/CT scores and CT scores in primary debulking surgery group and no significant differences in secondary debulking surgery group. CONCLUSIONS: A high PET/CT score predicted a high risk of incomplete resection. The preoperative PET/CT score had an identical predictive value in primary and secondary debulking surgery groups. PET/CT score was more accurate in the detection of metastases than CT score was.

[Evaluation Value of Invasion Area PET-CT Scanning for Chemotherapeutic Efficacy and Prognosis of Patients with Lymphoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the evaluation value of invasion area PET-CT scanning for chemotherapeutic efficacy and prognosis of patients with lymphoma. METHODS: A total of 98 newly diagnosed patients with lymphoma received the chemotherapy by R-CHOP protocol, the PET-CT scan of whole body and invasion area was performed after 6 cycle of chemotherapy. The invasion area was determined by PET-CT scan results before chemotherapy. The difference of clinical stage, clinical efficacy, radiation dose and scanning time were compared between PET-CT scanning of whole body and invasion area. RESULTS: The clinical stages of PET-CT scaning of whole body and invasion area were complete consistent, the consisitent rate of clinical stages from whole body and invasion area PET-CT scaning with Ann Arbor staging was 95.9%(94/98). Whole body PET-CT scan showed that 68 cases achieved CR, 26 cases achieved PR, 1 case achieved SD, 3 cases achieved PD. PET-CT scan of invasion area showed that 68 cases achieved CR, 24 cases achieved PR, 2 cases achieved SD, and 4 cases achieved PD; the PET-CT scan results of the whole body and the invasion area was consistent with CR. In 68 patients with CR, the radiation dose of CT, PET and PET-CT was significantly lower than that of whole body PET-CT, and the scanning time was significantly less than that of whole body PET-CT (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: For clinical efficicacy with CR patients, the scan results of whole body and invasion area PET-CT are consistent, and the PET-CT invasion area can significantly reduce the radiation dose and scanning time; and for PR, SD and PD patients, the whole body PET-CT scan should be performed to evaluation clinical efficiency.

[Application of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose Metabolic Imaging in Diagnosis and Treatment of Cervical Cancer].

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical value of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose（18 F-FDG）metabolism imaging in accurate staging and prognosis prediction before treatment of cervical cancer.18F-FDG single photon emission computed tomography（SPECT/CT）was performed before treatment on 27 patients with cervical cancer and was analyzed retrospectively.All the images were analyzed by image fusion software.Meanwhile,primary tumor size and T/B,lymph nodes size and T/B were measured by software.Comparison of the relationship between primary tumor T/B of cervix and clinic pathological factors was performed using SPSS17.0.The diagnosis was established according to pathology results of surgery or/and multi-modalities of imaging and clinical following up.The results showed that the primary tumor T/B value of cervix was 5.9（3.2）.With the increased clinical stage,T/B of primary tumor value was significantly increased（P<0.05）.The T/B value in patients≥Ⅱa stage was significantly higher than those of≤Ⅰb stage.There were no significant correlations between T/B value and primary tumor size,lymph-node metastasis,and histological type（P>0.05）.Thirteen lymph nodes were detected by 18F-FDG imaging in 27 patients with cervical cancer.For diagnosing lymph nodes metastasis,the sensitivity,specificity,accuracy,positive and negative predictive value by 18F-FDG imaging were 75.0%,78.9%,77.8%,60.0% and 88.2%,respectively.The T/B value of all lymph nodes was 6.3（3.5）,in which T/B value of distant metastasis was significantly higher than that of the pelvic metastasis（P<0.05）.There were no significant correlations between T/B value and the size of lymph nodes（P>0.05）.Uterine body uptaking FDG were discovered in 17 patients and 15 cases were then pathologically proved.Two of 15 cases were cancerous invasion of uterine body,and the other 13 cases were physiological changes of endometrial,and the T/B value of the former was significantly higher than that of the latter（P<0.05）.There were positive correlation between invasion of uterine body and lymph nodes metastasis（P<0.05）.In conclusion,18F-FDG imaging has an obvious value for the diagnosis of outside pelvic and distant lymph node metastasis,uterine body infiltrated,and accurate staging.Primary focal T/B value of cervical cancer associates with the clinical stage,which can reflect the risk of patients,and were useful to preliminarily predict the prognosis of cervical cancer.