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Abstract
Objective: Immunotherapy for programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand, PD-L1, has been considered an effective treatment for ovarian cancer. 18F-labeled fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) is a widely used noninvasive imaging tool for diagnosing several cancers. In this study, we investigated the association between PD-L1 expression and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) using 18F-FDG PET/CT.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of patients with ovarian cancer who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT. Patients were categorized into two groups according to PD-L1 expression results. The relationship between clinicopathological characteristics of patients with ovarian cancer and PD-L1 expression was examined.

Results: SUVmax was significantly higher in PD-L1-positive tumors than in PD-L1-negative tumors (16.1 ± 5.2 and 12.7 ± 7.0, respectively; p = 0.026). There were no significant differences in age, histologic type, and tumor grade between the PD-L1-negative and PD-L1-positive groups. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that the highest accuracy (61.8%) for predicting PD-L1 expression was obtained with an SUVmax cutoff value of 10.5.

Conclusion: There was a significant correlation between 18F-FDG uptake and PD-L1 expression, suggesting a role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in selecting ovarian cancer candidates for anti-PD-L1 antibody therapy.

Affiliations

Yun Jung Choi  1 , KwanHyeong Jo  2 , Sang Hyun Hwang  3 , YongHyu Jeong  4 , Jung-Yun Lee  5 , Sunghoon Kim  5 , Sang Wun Kim  5 , Young Tae Kim  5 , Won Jun Kang  6
1 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
2 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
3 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemungu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea.
4 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Yongin Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yongin, South Korea.
5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Women's Life Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
6 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemungu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea. mdkwj@yuhs.ac.