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Abstract
Background/Aims:
18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) reflects biological aggressiveness and predicts prognoses in various tumors. Evaluating the oncologic significance of the preoperative metabolic phenotype might be necessary for planning the surgical strategy in resectable pancreatic cancers.

Methods:
From January 2010 to December 2015, a total of 93 patients with pathologic T3 (pT3) pancreatic cancer were included in this study. Clinicopathological parameters and PET parameters were evaluated, and transcriptome-wide analysis was performed to identify the oncologic impact and molecular landscape of the metabolic phenotype of resectable pancreatic cancers.

Results:
Preoperative metabolic tumor volume (MTV)2.5 was significantly higher in the pN1 group compared to the pN0 group (11.1±11.2 vs 6.5±7.8, p=0.031). Higher MTV2.5 values (MTV2.5 ≥4.5) were associated with multiple lymph node metastasis (p=0.003), and the lymph node ratio was also significantly higher in resected pT3 pancreatic cancer with MTV2.5 ≥4.5 compared to those with MTV2.5 <4.5 (0.12±0.13vs 0.05±0.08, p=0.001). Disease-specific survival of patientswith MTV2.5 <4.5 was better than that of patients withMTV2.5 ≥4.5 (mean, 28.8 months; 95% confidence interval[CI], 40.1 to 57.0 vs mean, 32.6 months; 95% CI, 25.5 to 39.7; p=0.026). Patients with MTV2.5 ≥4.5 who received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy showed better survival outcomes than patients with MTV2.5 ≥4.5 who did not receive adjuvant treatment in resected pT3 pancreatic cancers (p<0.001). Transcriptome-wide analysis revealed that tumors with MTV2.5 ≥4.5 demonstrated significantly different expression of cancer-related genes reflecting aggressive tumor biology.

Conclusions:
Resectable pancreatic cancer with high MTV2.5 is not only associated with lymph node metastasis but also early systemic metastasis. The molecular background of resectable pancreatic cancer with high MTV2.5 may be associated with aggressive biologic behavior, which might need to be considered when managing resectable pancreatic cancers. Further study is mandatory.

Author information

Lee SH1,2, Hwang HK2,3, Lee WJ2,3, Yun M3,4, Kang CM2,3.
1
Department of Systems Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
2
Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
3
Pancreatobiliary Cancer Center, Yonsei Cancer Center, Severance Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
4
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.